The Magic of Family
by AmberShadows76
Summary: The day of Harry's thirteenth birthday, he manages to make a new friend without the interference of his 'family.' This new friend causes the night that Harry blows up his Aunt to go differently than the fates originally planned and will give Harry support that he never expected.
1. Chapter 1

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter One: New Neighbors**

**A.N.- **_**bold italics**_** are lines pulled directly from the book **_**Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban**_** by J.K. Rowling. I do not own the book or any version/copy/sample of Final Fantasy which is owned by Square Enix. This is for entertainment purposes only.**

_**Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. For another, he really wanted to do his homework but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And he also happened to be a wizard.**_

_**It was nearly midnight, and he was lying on his stomach in bed, the blankets drawn right over his head like a tent, a flashlight in one hand and a large leather-bound book propped open against the pillow. Harry moved the tip of his eagle-feather quill down the page, frowning as he looked for something that would help him write his essay, "Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless-discuss."**_

_**The quill paused at the top of a likely-looking paragraph. Harry pushed his round glasses u p the bridge of his nose, moved his flashlight closer to the book and read…Harry put his quill between his teeth and reached underneath his pillow for his ink bottle and a roll of parchment. Slowly and very carefully he unscrewed the ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, and began to write, pausing every now and then to listen, because if any of the Dursleys heard the scratching of his quill on tier way to the bathroom, he'd probably find himself locked in the cupboard under the stairs for the rest of the summer.**_

_**The Dursley family of number four, Privet drive, was the reason that Harry never enjoyed his summer holidays. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their son, Dudley, were Harry's only living relatives. They were Muggles, and they had a very medieval attitude toward magic. Harry's dead parents, who had been a witch and wizard themselves, were never mentioned under the Dursleys' roof. For years, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had hoped that if they kept Harry as downtrodden as possible, they would be able to squash the magic out of him. To their fury, they had been unsuccessful. These days they lived in terror of anyone finding out that Harry had spent most of the last two years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The most they could do, however was to lock away Harry's spell books, wand, cauldron, and broom stick at the start of the summer break, and forbid him to talk to the neighbors. **_

Harry had been fairly good at following the Dursleys' rules this summer, except for smuggling a few of his spell books up to Dudley's second bedroom, until yesterday that was. Yesterday morning after Uncle Vernon had left for work and Dudley had left to go spend time with his friends, Aunt Petunia had locked Harry outside with a list of chores and orders not to talk to any of the neighbors while she went to the weekly meeting of the Garden Club.

Harry yanked a weed out a little more viciously than was probably necessary as he thought about Aunt Petunia going to hang out with the other housewives of Privet Drive and discussing the award winning garden of Number Four. Aunt Petunia had never worked in Number Four's garden once since Harry had turned four and was able to hold a shovel, but she still received all of the accolades for how beautiful the garden was.

"Did the weeds insult you?" piped up a small voice to Harry's left causing his to lose his balance as the weed finally came out of the ground and sprawl backwards onto the grass. He found himself looking up into a pair of eyes whose green rivaled his own and seemed to almost glow in the morning sunlight.

"Ummm…" Harry pulled his eyes away from green eyes to more clearly take in who exactly was talking to him. The boy looked to be close to Harry in age with skin so pale Harry wondered if he had been sick recently and had not been outside in awhile. The pale skin was offset by a waist length braid in the most shocking silver color that Harry had to believe was real because no dye could get hair that color.

The boy tilted his head to the side, causing his braid to slip over his shoulder, "Are you deaf or something?"

"Umm…no," stuttered Harry standing and brushing the bits of grass from where he had mowed the lawn earlier off his back. Standing now next to the boy, Harry realized that he was several inches taller than Harry himself and held himself with a rigidity that almost reminded him of Draco, especially with how blunt and rude the boy had been. However, before he could begin to bristle in defense, Harry caught how the green eyes quickly flicked to the house across the street and then back to Harry and his hands twitched as though they were looking for something to grab.

Harry looked in the direction that the boy had glanced and saw a man with spiky black hair leaning against the door to number five watching both of them, when he saw Harry looking across the street he smiled and raised his hand in a two finger salute before making a waving motion with his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the silverette's shoulders slump before he turned back to face Harry again.

"So did the weed insult you? Is that why you were so violent with it?"

"No, no it was just stuck that's all," answered Harry smoothing his fringe to cover his scar, "uh, no offense but who are you?"

The green eyes widened and shot another look across the street before turning back to Harry, "My name is Sephiroth. My parents and my brothers and I moved across the street the day before yesterday." Another glance across the street, "I saw you working out here yesterday and the day before. My mother does gardening so I thought we could talk."

Harry felt his mouth fall open in shock, usually within a day of any new people moving into Privet Drive, the Dursleys would have the new residents so thoroughly convinced of Harry's delinquent status that they would be more likely to sneer in disgust at the sight of him than try and strike up a conversation with him.

Harry must have been staring in shock for too long because the boy began to fidget minutely and back away toward number five.

"You do not have to talk if you do not want to."

"No, no we can talk. I just have to get the garden finished before my Aunt gets back from the garden club meeting," said Harry gesturing to the half weeded front flower bed.

The boy, Sephiroth, looked at the bed and shocked Harry by kneeling down and starting to pull weeds. Wondering green eyes glanced over their shoulder at Harry, spurring him into kneeling back down in his spot before the flower bed and beginning to pull weeds again.

Harry had never realized before how quickly work could go with someone else there helping and talking with him. Apparently Sephiroth and his family had moved to England from Japan for his father's work. They had chosen Privet Drive because his mother had wanted somewhere the four boys could spend time with other children their own age and she could have her garden, while still being close to London where Sephiroth's father was working. Sephiroth was the oldest of the four boys at thirteen with his three younger brothers being ten year old triplets. Sephiroth said the oldest of the three was the most effeminate of the triplets and could often be found curled up in a quiet corner of the house with a book and a cup of hot chocolate-something Sephiroth claimed all of the boys and their mother enjoyed very much, even in the summer- and was named Yazoo. The middle one was the smallest of the boys and could often be found attached to their father's hip when he was not attached to Sephiroth's and was named Kadaj. The youngest of the boys was a tall and muscular boy who often intimidated children his own age because they judged him for his size before getting to know him. Sephiroth stated that Loz was the gentlest of his brothers and enjoyed helping their mother in the garden and could often be found with some wounded animal that he was attempting to nurse back to health. All four boys apparently shared the same silver hair, but whereas Sephiroth kept his in a waist length braid, Yazoo and Kadaj kept their hair unbound down around their shoulder blades and chin respectively. Loz was the odd one out of the boys keeping his hair cut short in an almost military style.

By the time Harry and Sephiroth had finished weeding the garden, Sephiroth was regaling Harry with a story of a time Loz had been nursing a bird back to health in the room that he shared with his brothers and it had gotten into one of Yazoo's books and started using the pages to try and make itself a nest. Kadaj had apparently gotten into the middle of the resulting fight and it was still unclear whose side he had been on in the resulting conflict, but he had apparently bitten Loz and broken Yazoo's wrist. Needless to say, all three boys had ended up grounded and Loz had to keep all rescue animals in a closet that their father specifically remodeled for him to use.

The ending of the story saw both Harry and Sephiroth sitting in the shade of the side of the house and laughing at the trouble the younger boys had caused. As they were calming down, Sephiroth's father came to the door of number five and called for Sephiroth to come home, and allowed Harry to catch a glimpse of who he assumed was Kadaj based on Sephiroth's description. Sephiroth had gone home after asking Harry if it was okay for him to come back over and hang out with him tomorrow, Harry had confirmed that as long as he was outside Sephiroth was more than welcome to come over.

Harry had finished the rest of his outside chores just in time for Aunt Petunia to return home and order Harry to start making dinner for the family, minus himself. Somehow the old bread and cheese and cold tap water that made up his dinner seemed better than it had every other day because of how much fun Harry had had that day spending time with Sephiroth and how much he was looking forward to spending time with him again tomorrow.

Smiling to himself, Harry screwed the cap back on his ink container and began putting his homework essay, spell book, and supplies back under the loose floorboard in his room. Glancing at the clock as he crawled back into bed, Harry was surprised to realize it was already one in the morning. _**He had been thirteen for an hour without even realizing it.**_

Humming softly, Harry opened the window enough that any post owls could enter and crawled back into his bed pulling the blankets up snug around his chin.

"Happy Birthday to me."


	2. Chapter 2

**The Magic of Family **

**Chapter Two: A Late Night Rendezvous **

**A.N.- **_**bold italics**_** are lines pulled directly from the book **_**Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban**_** by J.K. Rowling. I do not own the book, lines are included because J.K. Rowling is better at setting up dramatic situations than I am, or any version/copy/sample of Final Fantasy which is owned by Square Enix. This is for entertainment purposes only.**

Harry had to smile to himself as he woke up and was greeted by several letters and presents that had been delivered during the night while he slept. Opening Ron's letter first, Harry could only feel joy that his best friend and all of his family were able to have a true holiday with each other; after all with seven children, five of whom were attending Hogwarts, living off of one low paid government salary, holidays were a rare thing for Ron's family. The Pocket Sneakoscope was pretty cool, even if it might not actually work.

Hermione's letter was shocking in how little detail she went into about Ancient Egyptian Wizards, Hedwig must have been rushing Hermione to finish her letter, it's the only explanation Harry could come up with for the letter only being one page long. The Broomstick Servicing Kit was an amazing present and Harry would have to be sure to thank her profusely when he next saw her.

While the Hogwarts letter confirming his enrolment for his third year was welcome, the permission form for visiting Hogsmeade might be difficult. Visiting the little village on weekends would be amazing, but Uncle Vernon was already angry enough at Harry and Aunt Petunia would never sign anything for Harry, not now, not ever. He might just have to let his Slytherin side out to play in order to get the job done.

As much as Harry loved Hagrid and appreciated him sending note for his birthday, Hagrid's present could have been done without. Honestly, _The Monster Book of Monsters_ coming in handy could not be a good sign of things to come. The violent thing was locked in the rickety wardrobe held closed with a belt to prevent it from destroying even more of the room than it had when Harry had first unwrapped the present.

**Page Break**

Harry's happy feelings carried him through breakfast and the unpleasant news that Aunt Marge, Uncle Vernon's sister meaning she was thankfully not in any way actually related to Harry, would be visiting for the next week. Bargaining with Uncle Vernon to sign his Hogsmeade permission form by saying that he had attended St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys, and not mentioning a single thing about the wizarding world, was the only thing that made up for the trial dealing with Aunt Marge. Every time that Aunt Marge visited, ended painfully for Harry in some way. His fear of dogs actually came about because Aunt Marge had allowed Ripper, her vicious old bulldog, to keep him in a tree for hours.

Harry figured he had better get started an on that 'not mentioning a thing about the wizarding world' clause of his blackma…ahem deal with Uncle Vernon by hiding all of his presents from this morning and making sure that all of his homework supplies were hidden well.

_I should probably send Hedwig away for the week too. Doubt they allow pet owls at St. Brutus's. _

"_**Hedwig," he said gloomily, "you're going to have to clear off for a week. Go with Errol. Ron'll look after you. I'll write him a note, explaining. And don't look at me like that"—Hedwig's large amber eyes were reproachful—"it's not my fault. It's the only way I'll be allowed to visit Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione." **_

Harry was just sliding the window shut on Hedwig and Errol's retreating forms when Aunt Petunia's shrill voice calling for him reached his ears.

"Boy! Get down here this instant!"

Harry gave one more look through the room before hurrying down the stairs to where his Aunt was waiting for him.

"Boy, Vernon is heading home with Marge, you are to make yourself scarce for the day and not return until dinner time. Do I make myself clear?" The sneer on Aunt Petunia's face reminded Harry so strongly of a goblin that he almost started laughing, fortunately he was able to catch himself before that impulse got him in a world of trouble.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia, I understand. You won't see me again until dinner time." Nodding, Harry took advantage of the fact Aunt Petunia had told him at the bottom of the stairs and took off out the front door before she could decide to lock him in Dudley's second bedroom.

Breathing in the fresh air of relative freedom, Harry ambled down the front drive deciding that disappearing to the little overgrown park further into Little Whining would be the best way to avoid any of the Dursleys. Looking around, Harry felt a smile spread across his face as he noticed his new …what? …Neighbor? …Friend? Harry was not sure yet, but spending time with Sephiroth the other day had been a bright spot in Harry's dismal summer.

Sephiroth was sitting on the steps of his house, his luminescent green eyes locked with Harry's more verdant green ones as his long pale fingers continued in their almost hypnotic dance of weaving silver locks into a tight braid.

Harry gave his head a shake, knocking himself out of the trance that watching sunlight flickering over silver locks had caused, "umm, you said yesterday that you would maybe want to hang out again. So I was wondering if you wanted to go with me down to the park?"

Sephiroth's eyes widened slightly and Harry gave into his need to ramble when he did not get an immediate answer, "I mean it's not really much of a park anymore. Dudley and his gang got bored last summer and destroyed much of the equipment, but a few of the swings still work. Of course I'd understand if you have better things to do, like hang out with your brothers or…"

Long, cool fingers settled over Harry's mouth, stopping his rambling mid-sentence. He blinked up, still annoying always being so short, into amused eyes.

Sephiroth raised one silver brow and tapped his finger against Harry's lip, "If I take my hand off your mouth are you going to actually allow me to answer you, or are you going to continue to talk my ear off?"

Harry raised both eyebrows and angled his eyes downward to glance at Sephiroth's hand and then raised them back up to his face.

Sephiroth huffed and moved his hand, a small smile in the corners of his mouth, "I would enjoy going to the park with you, even if it's a little destroyed."

Harry laughed and headed down the sidewalk toward the park, looking at Sephiroth over his shoulder, "So are you coming or not?"

**Page Break**

Those few hours with Sephiroth at the park on July 31st chatting and laughing, were the only thing that allowed Harry to make it through the next five days of Aunt Marge residing at Number Four, Privet Drive. Every time Marge decided to compare Harry to Dudley or disparaged Harry's parents, he would focus on Sephiroth sitting on the swing in the park, scowling playfully while describing the fight his brothers had gotten into the night before, smiling softly as he described his parents dancing around the living room when they thought all the children were asleep, and laughing quietly at Harry's, heavily edited, tales of his adventures at Hogwarts over the last two years. He especially seemed to get an enjoyment out of any tales that involved the twins, comparing their escapades with things his own brothers had done.

Focusing on that time where he was able to just be himself and laugh while talking with a friend, meant that Harry had managed to make it through the last five days only losing control of his magic once. Luckily for Harry's chances of visiting Hogsmeade this year, Marge herself came up with the excuse of why her wine glass exploded in her hand while she was calling Harry's mother filthy names.

_**At last, at long last, the final evening of Marge's stay arrived.**_

Aunt Petunia, meaning Harry, cooked a great meal for the Dursleys. Vernon, Marge, and Dudley gladly devoured the meal and soon settled into dessert and after meal wine and brandy. Everything was going smoothly until Marge decided to start in on Harry's parents. As she continued to compare Harry's parents to her favored curs, Harry could almost feel his anger manifesting in a red layer over his eyes and his whole body began to shake.

_**But Aunt Marge suddenly stopped speaking. For a moment, it looked as though words had failed her. She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger-but the swelling didn't stop. Her great red face started to expand, her tiny eyes bulged, and her mouth stretched too tightly for speech—next second, several buttons had just burst from her tweed jacket and pinged off the walls—she was inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her tweed waistband, each of her fingers blowing up like a salami.**_

Harry could hear Uncle Vernon yelling behind him as he burst from the kitchen and launched himself at the cupboard under the stairs. He grabbed his trunk out of the magically opened cupboard and drug it up the stairs where he started scrambling for all of his hidden supplies and birthday presents, throwing them in his trunk with as many clothes as he could grab.

Dragging his trunk back down the stairs, Harry heard his Uncle still out in the garden yelling for Aunt Marge. He could not hear Aunt Petunia or Dudley, but he knew they had to be somewhere close by. He threw the door open _**and in the next moment, he was out in the dark, quiet street, heaving his heavy trunk behind him, Hedwig's cage under his arm. **_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Three: Meeting the Family**

Harry made it to Magnolia Crescent, a few streets over from Number Four, Privet Drive, before the full effect of what had just happened hit him and sent him trembling to sit on a low garden wall.

He had used underage magic to blow up his Uncle's sister, a sister who knew nothing about the wizarding world. If he was not expelled for the use of underage magic, then he would be for revealing magic to a muggle.

Harry took several deep breaths and rubbed his sweaty palms up and down his jean-clad legs, panicking would not help his case right now. He had to focus and come up with a plan.

Hedwig was hopefully in Egypt with Ron and his family and Hermione was in France with her family, which meant that Harry's main three ways of getting in contact with the wizarding world, and therefore help, were currently out of his reach. He was going to have to rely on his own wits to get out of this mess, but how?

If he could find some way to get to Gringott's then he could withdraw the money his parents had left for him and then…what? He was only thirteen, a puny thirteen at that, no country in the world would believe that he was able to be out on his own. He would be found, labeled an unaccompanied minor, and sent back to the Dursleys.

A shiver traveled up Harry's spine and set him shaking even harder than he had been. After tonight, Harry was not sure who he was more worried about, the ministry coming to expel him from Hogwarts and the magical world or Uncle Vernon, who would kill him for what had happened. If he was threatened with a beating for simply _speaking_ about the m-word, then he shuddered to think of the consequences for actually using magic on Marge.

So, all forms of communication cut off, unable to be seen for fear of being sent to either the Dursley's if found by a muggle, or the ministry if found by a wizard, and the only form of transportation available being his broom, which if seen would increase the trouble he was in.

What was that American saying he had heard once, "up the creak without a paddle?" That definitely summed up this situation.

Harry sighed and dropped his head in his hands, pulling his hair in frustration, there had to be a solution that would not continue to make things worse.

_**A funny prickling on the back of his neck had made Harry feel he was being watched, but the street appeared to be deserted, and no lights shone from any of the large square houses. He had sensed rather than heard it: someone or something was standing in the narrow gap between the garage and the fence behind him. Harry squinted at the black alleyway. If only it would move, then he'd know whether it was just a stray cat or-something else.**_

"_**Lumos," Harry muttered, and a light appeared at the end of his wand, almost dazzling him. He held it high over his head, and the pebble-dashed walls of number two suddenly sparkled: the garage door gleamed, and between them Harry saw, quite distinctly, the hulking outline of something very big, with wide, gleaming eyes.**_

_**Harry stepped backward. His legs hit his trunk and he tripped. His wand flew out of his hand as he flung out an arm to break his fall, and he landed, hard, in the gutter-**_or would have if a large hand had not wrapped around his bicep and pulled him back upright.

Recovering from his shock quickly, Harry found himself looking up and up until he was able to see bright, almost-glowing purple/blue eyes looking down at him with concern. Harry carefully backed up a bit so that he could look up without having to bend his neck backwards as much. This also gave him the advantage of seeing more of the man's face than just his eyes. The shoulder-length, spiky raven hair sparked in Harry's memory, but he could not place why the eyes and hair looked familiar.

"Are you okay Kid?" asked the man, his voice deep, but obviously trying to be gentle and comforting. He was actually being very successful in that endeavor considering the man stood over six feet tall and was very muscular, evident even under the fitted black suit he was wearing. Normally, Harry would be extremely nervous to be noticed by a stranger, even more so with someone who was so imposing, but something about the man radiated kindness that saw Harry relaxing.

"Umm, yeah I'm fine, just thought I saw something." Harry twisted his hands in his overlarge t-shirt, "thanks for the help…umm…I'll just be on my way now."

Harry reached down for his trunk, intending to continue further down Magnolia Crescent and hopefully come up with a plan on how to successfully get to London.

"It's Harry, right?"

Panic shot back through Harry, causing him to stiffen up unsure if he should turn around and confront the man or start running now. If he got a head-start he might be able to make it to some of the shortcuts he had found from running from Dudley and his gang during games of Harry Hunting and get away before the man could catch him. He would have to leave his trunk and supplies, but maybe he could circle back around collect them after he lost the man.

Before he could make up his mind, or start running, two fingers landed on his shoulder and very carefully pushed Harry to turn partially around. Once he was turned enough to see the man from the corner of his eye, the hand dropped off of Harry's shoulder and both were spread slowly in front of the man where Harry could easily see them.

"Sephiroth, has been disappointed that y'all couldn't hang out these past couple of days, but he's understood that you had family over."

Harry's eyes flew up from where he had been watching the man's chest for any indications of how he would move, as the hair and eyes finally clicked in Harry's brain, this man was Zack, Sephiroth's father. He had seen him that day on the porch of number five, encouraging Sephiroth to talk to Harry. Harry had never actually interacted with the man, so the only information he had to go on were Sephiroth's stories about him; which explained why he had not recognized the man when he had first been approached.

Harry watched the crooked smile the man gave him and once again felt a feeling of peace envelope him. Unlike all of the other adults in his life, Harry felt as though he could possibly trust this adult to do as he said he would.

The man's eyes flicked from Harry to Harry's trunk and broomstick and back to Harry, "You look like you might be in a bit of a mess. Would you like to come to the house? I'm sure Sephiroth would be happy to see you."

"I don't want to be a bother," mumbled Harry, biting his lower lip and looking down at his feet.

A large hand settled on his head and ruffled his already bird's nest of hair into even more of a mess, "You won't be a bother. Sephiroth really has been missing you, even if he won't say anything. Plus my wife and the kids have been dying to meet you, not often Sephiroth makes friends that he's this excited about."

Laughing the man leaned down and hoisted Harry's trunk up onto one shoulder as though it did not weight anything. "Now, why don't you grab your broom and follow me back to Number Five, hmmm."

Harry gaped as the man ambled off down the sidewalk at a slow enough pace that even Harry with his shorter legs would have no trouble keeping up with. Harry glanced once more at the gap between the garage and fence of number two, but he did not see anything hiding there any longer, nor did he sense the presence from earlier. Zack was still walking down the sidewalk at a steady pace, so Harry rushed to pick up his broom and caught a glimpse of his wand still in the gutter where it had landed after he tripped over his trunk. He snatched up his wand and stuffed it in his pocket as he ran to catch up with Zack.

* * *

When they arrived back on Privet Drive, Harry found himself dragging his feet and clutching his broom with both hands in a strangle grip. He did not want to be seen by Uncle Vernon or any Aurors who were there to fix his blow-up, literally.

Zack seemed to sense Harry's discomfort because he switched the trunk to his street-side hand and used the now free hand to pull Harry close to his side. With Zack's arm draped over his shoulders, Harry was fairly well hidden by Zack's bulk and the shadows cast by the weak street lamps and Zack's dark suit.

When they reached the paved pathway up to, Zack pushed Harry in front of himself and continued to guide Harry up the pathway with a hand between his shoulder blades as one of the red jacketed people gathered in front of Number Four separated from the group and approached Zack, calling for him to wait. Harry tensed so much at the approach of the disguised Auror, he was fairly certain he heard his bones creak.

Quiet chuckling reached Harry's ear as suddenly he was through the door of Number Five with his trunk on the floor beside him and the door closed tight. Blinking, stunned, Harry listened to the quiet murmur of Zack's conversation on the other side of the thick, wooden front door. One moment they had been at the end of the drive and the next Harry was safely inside and extremely confused. Deciding that wandering the house would be rude, Harry dragged his trunk to where it could not block the door and took a seat on the lid. While his curiosity could be stifled, it could not be completely contained.

Number Five Privet Drive looked very similar to Number Four. To the right of the door was the staircase that lead to the second floor, Harry could just make out two doors from where he sat. To the left was an archway leading into the living room, he could glimpse the corner of an oriental rug taking up what had to be a significant portion of the floor. He could also see a squat square wooden table situated by a dark brown couch that looked well used and very comfortable. Where Harry himself sat was a hallway that ended in the kitchen, the door separating the kitchen and hallway having apparently been removed at some point.

Unlike Number Four, with its sterile white walls and decorations set up to impress, Number Five's walls were a mixture of tan and light green with rugs on the floor, children's drawings and flowers hung all over the walls, and toys left scattered on the stairs and living room. Instead of disinfectant, the air smelled like flowers and homemade pie.

"Zack is that you? How was your day at work?" a light, sweet voice called from the kitchen area. Harry was not sure how or even if he should answer that question, so he hunched up on his trunk, pulling his knees up and burying his head in them. This night had been exceedingly long and Harry was simply ready for it to be over so that he could go to sleep.

"Zack what are you…oh. Hello there, what's your name?" came the sweet voice, much closer than it had been previously. Peeking one eye out from where he had hidden his face, Harry saw a young woman with a long brown braid tied off with a pink ribbon, she was wearing a set of pink plaid pajamas, and she had pink bunny slippers on her feet. The main thing that Harry registered was the fact that the lady's eyes were just as green as his and full of concern and warmth.

He blinked once and then buried his head back into his knees, suddenly too tired to even attempt to come up with a cover-up of why he was not at home and could _not_ return to Number Four.

The door opened and closed quietly and footsteps passed by where Harry was sitting, after ruffling his hair, and two sets of footsteps went further down the hallway into the kitchen where the quiet murmur of voices started up again.

Harry was almost asleep when the heavier set of footsteps approached again and stopped by him, if they were not going to talk to him then he was not going to wake himself up enough to ask questions.

"Sephiroth! Get down here!" whisper-yelled the person standing by him. Harry jumped at the volume, even if it was not actually that loud, Harry did not think he would have heard the call if he was in any other room than the hallway by the person.

Harry looked up to see Zack standing in the middle of the hallway looking up to the second floor, the second floor where a head of long silver hair appeared peering over the banister in confusion. That confusion quickly turned to delight as Sephiroth caught sight of Harry and rushed down the stairs.

"Harry, what are you doing here? Are you alright? Where you hurt? How did you get here?" rushed Sephiroth, putting his cool hands on Harry's cheeks and tilting his head this way and that as if he could figure out what was wrong with Harry from that alone.

Before Harry could answer any of Sephiroth's questions, Zack rested a hand on Sephiroth's head and pushed him lightly away from where Harry was still partially curled up on top of his trunk.

"Relax Seph, Harry here has had a long night. Take him up to your room and the two of you go on to sleep. You can question him to your heart's content in the morning."

The expression on Sephiroth's face could not _quite_ be called a pout, but it was a very close thing and the sight of it made Harry giggle very quietly, too tired to do more than that. However, it must have convinced Sephiroth that he was alright enough to make it to tomorrow when he could really question him. A small smile flitted across Sephiroth's face as he grabbed Harry with one hand and Harry's trunk with the other, dragging both up the stairs and down the hallway to the third door in the line.

Right as Sephiroth released Harry's arm in order to open the bedroom door, there was a knock at the front door. Harry and Sephiroth paused in the door way and listened as Zack answered the door.

"Sorry to disturb you so late, but my name is Cornelius Fudge. Me and these fine ladies and gentlemen are looking for a young man who went missing earlier this evening. His name is Harry Potter and he lives next door at Number Four, and we were wondering if you or your family noticed anything?"

"Hmmm," came Zack's voice, "I just got home from work, but my wife was here all day, maybe she saw what happened. Give me a second I'll go get her."

Footsteps echoed down the hallway and to the kitchen, after a few moments two sets of footsteps once again echoed from the kitchen and to the front door.

"My husband explained what you were looking for, I'm sorry to say that with getting my children ready for bed, I did not notice anything going on with the neighbors. Is Harry in trouble? He's a good friend of one of my sons, and I'd hate for something to happen to him."

"No ma'am," the voice that had previously labeled itself, Cornelius Fudge, said quickly, "Harry is not in any trouble, but we are concerned for his safety. If you, or your son, happen to see young Harry, please contact your local police station."

"Of course, no problem sir, have a nice night," came Zack's voice before the sound of the front door closing reached the two eavesdropping boys, "Go to sleep boys."

Sephiroth jerked like he was electrocuted and pulled Harry into his room. Harry took the time while Sephiroth was setting Harry's trunk at the end of the bed and propping his broom in the corner, to take a cursory look around the room. The window directly across from the door was covered with a floor length white curtain, which matched the bed, desk, and wardrobe in the room. The white furniture was a nice counterpoint to the light blue walls and the darker blue shag rug on the floor and dark blue comforter on the double bed.

"I can go downstairs and sleep on the couch if you don't want to share the bed," whispered Sephiroth when he caught Harry looking at the bed.

Harry blinked; too tired to comprehend why Sephiroth suddenly looked uncomfortable and was almost rocking from one foot to the other. It took Sephiroth sighing and collecting an extra pillow and blanket from the bed for Harry to register what, exactly, Sephiroth had said. When his tired synapses finally connected what was going on he rushed to reassure Sephiroth.

"No, you don't have to go sleep on the couch. I'm fine with us sharing the bed. Sorry, I'm just really tired."

"Okay," the tension in Sephiroth's shoulders disappeared, "well, here's a set a pajamas," here he handed Harry a pair of red plaid pants and a grey t-shirt, "the bathroom is right next door. If you need a toothbrush there are extra in the second drawer."

Harry quietly thanked Sephiroth for the clothes and decided that the toothbrush that had been locked in his trunk in the cupboard under the stairs was probably no longer any good. He was not above using a new one provided to him. Brushing his teeth and changing into clean clothes, that other than being a little long fit very well, just increased the tiredness weighing down his limbs and it was a great relief to return to the room and see Sephiroth standing beside the light switch, ready to turn off the lights as soon as Harry was in the bed.

The bed was heavenly soft, the comforter soft and warm, and Sephiroth's steady breathing at his back all meant that Harry fell into a deep and dreamless sleep very quickly.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Magic of Family **

**Chapter 4: Revelations**

Harry woke up and had no idea where he was, the bed he was laying on was too soft, the blanket too warm. Peeling his eyelids open only increased his confusion as he was met with a blurry light blue wall instead of the typical dingy white of his room at Number Four.

Groaning, he rolled over onto his back and squinted up at the dark, almost black ceiling, attempting to kick start his uncooperative brain into figuring out where they were and what trouble they had gotten themselves into this time.

Slim, pale fingers held his glasses over his face, pulling part of the constellation pattern of the ceiling into focus. Groaning Harry settled the glasses on his nose and pushed himself upright to face Sephiroth, the events of yesterday coming back to him and settling like a heavy weighted blanket around his shoulders.

Sephiroth was sitting on the edge of the bed already dressed for the day in a pair of dark jeans and a dark t-shirt, looking at Harry with concern. Harry sighed and flopped back down on the bed, contemplating whether pulling the comforter over his head would be seen as too childish. Sephiroth seemed to read his mind as he gripped the comforter and pulled it down a little farther.

"My mother made French Toast for breakfast, she said you need to come down and eat before they get soggy and gross. She said you can come back up and sleep after if you want."

Harry had never had French Toast before, but the sound of food, and food not cooked by him, sounded good. Reading his intentions in his body language, Sephiroth stood, pulling the comforter down the bed with him. Harry shivered and stood glancing down at the makeshift sleepwear Sephiroth had given him last night.

"It's fine, you can change after you eat. My brother's are still in their sleep clothes too."

Harry raised his eyebrows and looked at Sephiroth's put together appearance. The pink spreading slowly across Sephiroth's pale cheeks was fascinating, "I…don't like not being dressed in the mornings."

A smile flitted across Harry's face and he watched that blush darken slightly before Sephiroth huffed and stalked down the hallway. Harry rushed after Sephiroth and caught up with him at the end of the stairs, following after him to the open kitchen archway. While Sephiroth continued into the kitchen, years of dealing with the Dursleys and the fickle attention of the Hogwart's student body made him cautious when entering new rooms.

Sephiroth sat down in the chair at the end of the kitchen table, facing the archway where Harry stood. To Sephiroth's left sat a boy with the same bright green eyes and silver hair cut around his shoulders, twirling a kitchen knife around his fingers. Across from Sephiroth sat a boy similar in height to Sephiroth, but with much broader shoulders and close cropped silver hair, if Harry did not know that the boy was only nine, he would have guessed him to be closer to fourteen or fifteen. Next to him was a very slim young man with silver hair with hair at a length between Sephiroth and the other long haired silverette, this one was turned partially around in his seat with piercing green eyes surrounded in darker silver lashes fixed on Harry. At the head of the table, between the two longer haired triplets was a head of spiky hair laying on the table, arms folded as a makeshift pillow under his head.

"Kadaj, put down the knife. Yazoo turn around, staring is rude. Zack," a roll of summer green eyes, "sit up, shouldn't you be used to waking up early by this point?" Harry turned to see the woman from last night standing by the stove, spatula pointing loosely in the direction of the table, and an indulgent smile on her face.

Turning back to the stove, the lady waved the spatula over her shoulder in the general direction of the table, "Sorry we didn't introduce everyone last night, but you looked dead on your feet. The living zombie at the end of the table said he introduced himself to you yesterday, but just in case you forgot, that's Zack. These three are Sephiroth's younger brothers, the one who has too much fun with anything sharp and pointy is Kadaj, the one across from him is Yazoo, and last, but certainly not least," she leaned over the table setting down a plate full of fried bread while ruffling the tallest boy's hair, "is Loz. And I am Aerith."

She spun from the table, her long pink skirt twirling around her ankles as she gently grabbed Harry's elbow and guided him down into the last seat at the table. "Now you still look dead on your feet, so sit on down and eat. Oh…" she spun again from where she was walking back toward the stove, "do you want powdered sugar on your French toast? NO," as four hands went up, "you four already had hot chocolate, no more sugar for you."

Harry sat blinking at the table, not really sure what had just happened. Chuckling at the other end of the table drew his attention to the man that had brought him home yesterday. The man, Zack, was sitting up now, running a hand tiredly through black spikes.

"The boys all have a sweet tooth, but too much sugar in the morning means they tend to be bouncing off the walls by lunch time." Zack laughed, and ruffled a pouting Kadaj's hair.

The sound of a plate scrapping on the table drew Harry's attention back down the table to see Sephiroth setting a plate with two fried pieces of bread in front of him. Sephiroth pulled his own plate in front of him, picked up the white pitcher container on the table, and poured syrup on the bread before passing the container Harry. Understanding what Sephiroth was doing for him, Harry quickly copied his actions before passing the container on to Loz.

A little too sweet to be something he would enjoy every day for breakfast, Harry found he quite enjoyed the French toast. While the three younger boys and Zack went upstairs to clean up and get ready for the day, Harry and Sephiroth helped Aerith in cleaning up the kitchen. Harry washed the dishes while Aerith dried and put them away and Sephiroth wiped down the table. The quiet rhythm of rinsing, wiping, and scrubbing lulled Harry into a sense of security and his brain switched into a type of autopilot.

"So, Harry, what happened last night that sent you running from your Aunt and Uncle's house and had the Minister of Magic going door to door looking for you?" asked Aerith, taking a plate and carefully drying it.

"Blew Aunt Marge up," the cup Harry was washing slipped from suddenly numb fingers as he registered what had just been asked of him. He turned shocked and fearful eyes to see Aerith calmly putting the plate away and Sephiroth leaning up against the door to the backyard.

"Is Aunt Marge the _severely _obese woman we saw coming and going from Number Four this week?" asked Sephiroth, keeping his hands where Harry could see him and speaking in the same calming tone that he used the day Harry freaked out about asking Sephiroth to the park.

"Because if she did, I hope you blew her up in the truest meaning of that phrase."

Harry stopped slowly backing out of the room and looked at Sephiroth in confusion.

A shrug, "She yelled at Yazoo the other day, called him a 'fairy' and that he should not be a 'sissy boy,' she's lucky I was the one outside with him and not Kadaj," a head tilt, "I'm sure it would have gotten very bloody if he had been the one outside."

Harry might have only just met the boy this morning, but in that short time even he had noticed the boy's rather unhealthy obsession with sharp objects. Plus, if there was one thing Harry had known even before meeting all of the boys today, it was that they are all insanely protective of each other.

Contemplating Kadaj, a knife, and Aunt Marge in the same setting, allowed Harry's brain to stall out of panic mode and the second half of Aerith's question to register.

"The Minister of Magic?" asked Harry, looking into calm, summer green eyes.

"Yes," she giggled, "that's who came to the door last night. Zack managed to work his charm and find out that they were looking for you because, 'there has been a severe miscommunication and due to circumstances, Mr. Potter would be better off returning to the wizarding world as soon as possible.'" She said in a fake deep voice.

"So as you can see," came a deep voice from over to Harry's left where Zack was standing at the half-wall that separated the dining room from the living room, "we can either contact the Minister and he can place you somewhere in the wizarding world for the rest of the summer, or," a pause to look at Sephiroth and Aerith, "you can stay here with us for the rest of the summer."

Harry felt like his head was on a swivel as he looked from Zack to Sephiroth to Aerith and back again. Aerith had gone back to finishing the dishes, Zack was watching his wife with a small smile on his lips, and Sephiroth was watching Harry with steady eyes.

Harry looked in those eyes are realized that between the choice of spending the next three weeks at a place of the ministry's choosing or here with Sephiroth, the choice was easy.

"I'd like to stay here."

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Harry got to know the family of his new best friend better and found them much different than the Weasleys, and he had a feeling that they were different from any other wizarding family that he had heard about.

Aerith was a green witch, not considered strong enough to have learned at any of the magical institutes, but when it came to herbs, poultices, and potions she was a genius. During the day, she could often be found in the back yard of Number Five tending to the garden plot that she used to grow all of her ingredients. In the afternoons she took to teaching Harry, Sephiroth, and Loz all of the tricks of potion making that she knew.

Zack was not magical in any way, however, he was an expert in weapons, mainly the sharp and pointy kind, but he took a night the first week that Harry lived with them, to teach Harry how to load and use the handgun he kept upstairs. Harry had been uncomfortable handling the gun, but Zack had explained that it would be better to know how to use the gun and never need it, than to need it and have an accident happen. (Accidents were quite common in the house when the triplets got bored, reminded Harry strongly of the twins and made Harry very determined to never let them meet.) In the evenings after dinner, Zack would take the boys outside and would run through different hand to hand maneuvers and basic handling of knives and swords for protection.

According to Sephiroth, it was still unclear whether the triplets were magical or not. Kadaj had shown instances of possibly creating fire when he was truly upset. Yazoo had yet to show any signs, but the way Sephiroth said that made Harry wonder what was not being said. Out of the three triplets, Loz had shown the most promise for being magical, taking after Aerith with green magic.

Sephiroth was magical and would be entering Hogwarts this year as a transfer third year student. He had previously been enrolled at a school in Japan, but with the move, Sephiroth had wanted to stay closer to home and transferred to Hogwarts. Mornings and late nights were spent in Sephiroth's room quietly trading stories of their first two years of schooling and completing Harry's summer homework together. Harry also spent the time allaying Sephiroth's fear, very well hidden-only years of studying body language allowed Harry to realize it was there-of how he would be accepted at Hogwarts. Remembering how Ron and Hagrid influenced his choice of house, Harry was very careful to not influence Sephiroth's choice.

* * *

Every day with Sephiroth was fun, the triplets making sure that there was never a dull moment in the house, and learning with Aerith and Zack in the evenings made Harry wonder if everything he had been told about his intelligence was really as true as he had always believed.

However, the best day that Harry would remember for the rest of his life was the day after the family had gone to Diagon Alley and collected the two student's school supplies. While in Diagon Alley, Harry and Sephiroth had started talking about the Hogsmeade's weekends and what could be expected of them. Harry had had to inform Sephiroth that he had no idea what they were like since students could not attend until they were third years or higher, and that Sephiroth would have to be the one to tell him what they were like since Uncle Vernon had not signed Harry's permission slip before he had run away.

The next night as the family was sitting down to dinner, Zack slid a paper to Harry while the others were distracted with Aerith's meatloaf and mash potatoes. Confused Harry picked up the paper and possibly would have burst into tears if he were still able. The paper that Zack had given him was the permission form for trips to Hogsmeade and on the signature line was Uncle Vernon's jagged script. As soon as dinner was over, Harry had quickly run upstairs to the bedroom that he was sharing with Sephiroth and carefully placed the form in his photo album so that it would not get lost.

* * *

August thirty-first saw Zack taking Harry and Sephiroth to Diagon Alley for a last minute resupply. Sephiroth had almost murdered Kadaj when he found the boy using his defense against the dark arts book for target practice. Harry had to go in order to replace several of his potions ingredients that Loz had attempted to plant and grow the rare ingredients.

The trip to Flourish and Blotts and the Apothecary had been quick and painless and Zack had suggested they stop by the Magical Menagerie to pick up some new owl treats for Hedwig, who had returned to Harry just yesterday.

They were approaching the door of the shop when a giant orange blur came flying out of the door and attaching itself to Sephiroth's chest. Harry was turning to detach the UFC (unidentified flying creature) when two very familiar voices called out from the shop.

"Crookshanks!"

"Hermione!"

"Harry!" "Harry!" yelled both voices, and Harry found himself with a mouthful of brown bushy hair.

"Hermione, can't breathe," gasped Harry, attempting to disentangle himself from his clingy friend.

Hermione laughed and released Harry, but keeping a sure grip on his forearm.

"Where have you been mate? Everyone's been looking for you since you blew up your Aunt," laughed Ron, fist bumping Harry in the shoulder opposite Hermione.

Harry ignored Hermione admonishing Ron as he stepped back from his two best friends; he was beginning to feel trapped with how close they were standing. He had left Sephiroth dealing with some strange creature and wanted to make sure the thing had not eaten him or something. Sephiroth had not moved from where he had been when the orange fur had attacked him, and now he stood with the largest, furriest cat Harry had ever seen dangling from his arms. The thing was ugly with a flattened face and green eyes similar in intensity to Sephiroth's, actually, if you put the thing and Kadaj side-by-side he was not sure who would glare better.

Before Harry could approach and get a better look at the thing, Hermione pushed past him and reached out for the monster.

"Crookshanks, there you are. You naughty cat, thank you for catching him."

Sephiroth shot an almost imperceptible look of shock over to Harry before turning back to Hermione.

"Hermione and Ron, this is Sephiroth, I've been staying with him for the past few weeks," said Harry stepping up beside Sephiroth and brushing his hand across Sephiroth's.

Harry looked up when his friends remained quiet and was shocked to see the glare Ron was aiming at Sephiroth and the suspicious look Hermione was giving them.

Hermione grabbed Harry's left wrist and attempted to pull him away from Sephiroth, "Harry, you should not have run off like that. Everyone has been really worried about you, even the Minister of Magic has been personally looking for you."

"Yeah mate, as cool as blowing up your Aunt sounds, now isn't the best time for disappearing what with that escaped criminal being loose."

"I didn't have a way of contacting you all until yesterday when Hedwig got back, and I've been safe with Sephiroth and his family since the day I disappeared. And how do you two know so much about what happened, you've both been out of the country most of the summer. You only contacted me for my birthday, and neither of you has an excuse for that this year. Ron you had Hedwig with you and Hermione you know how to use a telephone or even _regular_ mail," ranted Harry, yanking his captive wrist from Hermione's grip and glared at his overbearing friends, "Plus, I don't know why I had to tell anyone where I was, my 'guardians' knew."

"Harry…" started Hermione before Ron spoke over her, his face almost as red as his hair.

"The Minister of Magic talked to my dad because he and Dumbledore have been frantic looking for you," shouted Ron, "and instead of dead in an alleyway like mom thought, we find you wandering around Diagon Alley perfectly fine and in the company of this—this—freak …"

Harry felt the blood drain from his face as his hands started to shake and his vision started to tunnel. The ringing in his ears blocked out the rest of Ron's yelling and whatever Hermione was attempting to interject with.

'Freak,' that awful word that Harry had heard every day of his life for ten long years, that word that he believed was his name for the first four of those years, that, awful word that felt engraved into his very soul.

A cool hand set against his right hand, not constraining, simply letting him know someone else was there, helped pull Harry from his anger. Pulled back to the present, Harry felt his magic swirling around and pressing against his skin attempting to get out.

Allowing a little of his magic to snap out into the air, Harry hissed, so close to Parsletongue he wondered if he did slip partially into the snake language, "I understand that you were worried about me, but if you _ever_ call someone a _freak_ again then we will be having a much different conversation. Now, you have until tomorrow to decide if you are concerned for my safety or if you feel _left out_ of something you had no way of being a part of either before or after the incident occurred. Sephiroth will be coming to Hogwarts with us and he _will_ be around since he is my friend. I'd make your decision carefully."

Harry turned his hand and gripped Sephiroth's hand, with one last glare at his now shell-shocked friends, Harry dragged Sephiroth to where Zack had been waiting, leaning against a lantern post a few stores down. Sephiroth squeezed the hand that Harry currently had in a death grip and, when Harry glanced back at him, gave a partial smile of encouragement. Harry felt the anger slowly drain from him as they left Diagon Alley, and he was even gladder that Sephiroth did not seem to be mad. However, Harry was going to be keeping a close eye on his friends this year, because he was starting to question his friend's priorities.

* * *

**A.N.-I hate this chapter. I seriously dislike this chapter. I wrote half of it, scrapped it, wrote chapter 5, attempted to write this chapter, wrote the first chapter for the sequel, and then completely restarted this chapter. Needless to say, it's been a pain and a half to write. **


	5. Chapter 5

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Five: Homesickness**

Harry woke early on September first excited to be leaving for Hogwarts with his new best friend by his side.

The morning was calm and peaceful as all five boys ate the wonderful goodbye breakfast Aerith prepared for them. While Aerith straightened the kitchen, Harry and Sephiroth put the last few necessities in their trunks and the triplets got cleaned up and dressed and he could not help but think back on getting ready last year and the difference between the Weasley family chaos and here. Once everyone was ready, Zack loaded both trunks into the boot of the family Honda FR-V.

Other than a short spat between Loz and Yazoo over who got to sit in the second row with Harry and Sephiroth after Kadaj stole the front middle seat-Yazoo won and spent the entire trip quite contently curled up into Harry's side- the trip to King's Cross Station was fun, the car filled with laughter and jokes from Zack and even a bit of singing from Aerith. Before he knew it, Harry was showing the Fairs how to go through the disguised pillar and enter Platform 9 ¾.

Zack helped the boys find an empty compartment and easily lifted their trunks into the overhead shelves. The three had just disembarked the train to say a final goodbye to Aerith and the younger boys, when the Weasleys arrived and they were swamped by red heads and one bushy brown.

Harry had just been released from an extremely tight hug of Mrs. Weasley's when Mr. Weasley approached him.

"_**Harry," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "come over here a moment."**_

_**He jerked his head toward a pillar, and Harry followed him behind it, leaving the others crowded around Mrs. Weasley.**_

"_**There's something I've got to tell you before you leave-" said Mr. Weasley, in a tense voice.**_

"What's that Mr. Weasley," questioned Harry, when Mr. Weasley seemed reluctant to continue.

"Well, I'm not sure how much you've heard…I mean you've been in the Muggle world all summer, so I'm sure you've heard _some_. But-uhh-I need you to promise that you will stay inside the castle this year."

Harry felt his eyebrows scrunch down in confusion, "But Mr. Weasley, this year is when we can visit Hogsmeade, why do we need to stay in the castle?"

"Ahh, yes I know that Harry," Mr. Weasley nervously scratched the back of his neck, "but it's really important for you to where it's secure this year."

A large hand landed gently on Harry's shoulder and carefully pulled him back against a warm chest.

"You know, I find it works best with curious kids to not be vague about the things that might get them in trouble. Tends to send them looking for it, you know?" Zack's chest rumbled soothingly where it was pressed against Harry's back. The dark look Zack was aiming at Mr. Weasley made Harry feel protected and trusted, not regulated to an object that had to be wrapped in cotton wool until it was needed for some job.

Mr. Weasley blinked, seemingly dumbfounded by Zack's entrance into the private conversation and unsure how to react to the quiet anger and confidence radiating off of Zack.

"Now do you care to give an actual explanation of what is going on or are you looking to cause panic?"

Mr. Weasley shuffled his feet before averting his eyes from the piercing stare that Zack had leveled at him.

"The murderer who escaped at the beginning of the summer, Sirius Black, he's a wizard," babbled Mr. Weasley, tripping over his words a bit in his rush to get them out, "he escaped from the wizarding prison Azkaban."

"And what does that have to do with Harry? You sounded pretty adamant that _Harry_ had to stay in Hogwarts this year," the dry tone that Zack used reminded Harry strongly of Sephiroth at his most annoyed, usually when his brothers were at their most obnoxious.

A glance at Harry, "Sirius Black was You-Know-Who's right hand man. He was the one responsible for telling him where to find the Potters. The Minister believes that Black might be after Harry in order to finish the job."

Harry felt the blood drain from his face and lost track of the rest of the conversation, the only thought circling in his mind was the fact that someone was once again out to kill him. The second, even more chilling thought was, _'would anyone have even told me that a murderer was out for my blood?'_

Harry's thoughts were rapidly spiraling into a panic attack, his vision blurring and his stomach clenching, making him nauseous while his breathing fell into an easy pattern of deep inhales and exhales. The comforting warmth at his back left, but before his panic could increase, those same hands settled back on his shoulders, heavy and grounding, and his blurred vision of the Hogwarts Express cut off by a pair of glowing purple-blue eyes full of concern.

Harry used those eyes and the anchoring hands to pull his mind out of its downward spiral. Taking a deep breath and wrapping slim fingers around Zack's wrists, Harry closed his eyes and began putting the new information in order within his mind.

_First-The escaped criminal from over the summer was a wizard named Sirius Black._

_Second-He was the right hand man of Voldemort._

_Third-The Minister of Magic himself believed that Sirius Black was after Harry for some reason._

_Fourth- Mr. Weasley believed that Harry would be safe at Hogwarts, but not at Hogsmeade. _

_So what did Hogwarts have that Hogsmeade did not? The only thing that Harry could think of was the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Mr. Weasley apparently trusted Professor Dumbledore to be able to protect Harry from an apparently psychotic killer. _

_Deep breaths Potter, you've survived Voldemort three times at this point, his right hand man can't be any worse than him. You will get through this._

Opening his eyes, Harry locked on to those steady eyes in front of him and tried to show as much of his determination as he could. He must have succeeded because Zack gave him a crooked smile and ruffled his hair before pushing to his feet with an exaggerated grunt that caused Harry to laugh.

* * *

Heading back to the group, Harry was jumped by all three triplets at once, only Zack's quick hand on his back keeping him from an unfortunate impact with the platform floor. A giggling Aerith skillfully disentangled the boys and gave Harry a quick hug and a small push toward the express that had just emitted the last warning whistle for students to board.

Harry quickly fist-bumped a grinning Zack, who was holding a pouting Kadaj on his left hip like a sack of potatoes, and hopped up onto the train where Sephiroth was waiting for him. Puzzled he looked around for where Ron and Hermione had gone.

"They went to bring their trunks to the compartment we found earlier," Sephiroth's quiet voice answered Harry's unspoken question.

Harry felt a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he grabbed Sephiroth's hand and started dragging him toward their compartment. Hermione was already settled by the window and Ron finishing pushing his trunk onto the overhead shelf when Harry and Sephiroth entered. Grabbing the window seat across from Hermione, Harry carefully pulled Sephiroth down to sit beside him.

Harry watched as Hermione flushed almost as red as Ron could get when she looked at Sephiroth before she straightened her shoulders, "I apologize for what happened yesterday at Diagon Alley," she elbowed Ron sharply in the ribs as he settled into his seat, "and I know Ronald is just as sorry for his comments, aren't you." She hissed the last part giving Ron a pointed look before glancing over at Sephiroth.

"Yeah, sorry," mumbled Ron, not looking at either Harry or Sephiroth.

Harry watched the minute widening of Sephiroth's eyes and gave the hand he still held a reassuring squeeze.

Stealthily taking a deep breath through his nose, Sephiroth looked Hermione in the eye, "I accept your apology, but I do not believe I am the person you should most be apologizing too," finishing his short speech with a bow of his head and a pointed look at Harry.

Harry had to quickly turn his laughter into a cough as he watched Ron's eyes widen and Hermione's mouth actually drop open in shock.

"Right, right, we're sorry Harry, we did not mean to make you feel like we were trying to control your life or anything. We were just relieved to see you safe," Hermione was quick to recover from her shock, she turned back to Sephiroth, "how about we start over. My name is Hermione Granger, it's nice to meet you."

Hermione extended her hand, and quickly kicked Ron in the shin. Sephiroth reached across the open space to shake Hermione's hand while Ron yelped and grabbed his leg, glaring at Hermione.

"Sephiroth Crescent-Fair," replied Sephiroth quickly shaking Hermione's hand and settling back into the bench. Harry and Hermione both turned their glares on Ron, who mumbled something the others tacitly decided to pretend was his name, and turned to looking out the glass door, ignoring what was going on in the compartment.

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms while Harry rolled his eyes. Deciding arguing with Ron would be a waste of time, and knowing that Sephiroth would much prefer simply listening rather than participating in a conversation with two people he did not really know, Harry chose instead to engage Hermione in a conversation about the differences between French culture, Muggle and Wizarding, and British culture. Like he had planned, that topic of conversation kept Hermione talking until lunch time with very little input from Harry or anyone else.

When Sephiroth and Harry got out the Bento Boxes that Aerith had packed for them, Hermione easily switched from French/British culture to questioning Sephiroth about Japanese culture and how it differed from British culture. Sephiroth answered her questions in the same dry tone he used when Kadaj was at his most annoying and pestering him with questions. For once Hermione took the hint from Sephiroth's tone and dropped her questioning, instead turning to whisper harshly at a grumbling Ron who was attempting to get a sickly looking Scabbers to eat something.

Now they were only about an hour away from Hogwarts, Harry was leaning against Sephiroth's shoulder while he read a book written in kanji-Japanese script that Harry knew he had no chance of _ever _understanding, Ron was still sulking in his seat, holding Scabbers and muttering threats at Crookshanks- who had been shut-up in his carrier after attempting to eat Scabbers, and Hermione was currently speculating about Sirius Black and how he could have possibly escaped from what was widely considered the strongest wizarding prison in the world-she would know, she had researched it.

* * *

After so many nights sleeping next to Sephiroth in the same bed, Harry found his soothing breaths and the gentle swaying of train were lulling him into a semi-conscious state, barely aware of what was going on in the rest of the compartment. He was almost completely asleep when the train rumbled to a stop and the carriage lights flickered before going off completely.

"Are we there already?" asked Ron, standing up and sliding the door open to see other students peering out into the hallway in confusion.

"No," said Hermione, "we should still have almost a half-an-hour before we arrive in Hogsmeade."

Everyone jumped as frost rapidly spread across the window and the doors, and the darkness seemed to deepen as a feeling of dread spread to each of them. Harry felt himself starting to shiver, the vestiges of his panic attack from earlier coming back in full force. He blindly reached out for something to ground himself with as a dark cloaked creature floated up to the doorway, one skeletal, decaying hand reaching around the framework of the door. Harry's head exploded in pain as a woman's screams filled his mind, blocking out all other sounds.

He felt himself slipping into unconsciousness as the screaming grew louder and his body became progressively more numb from the increasing chill in the air. The last of his vision was fleeing when Harry heard a voice from some distance away yelling as a bright green light filled the compartment, then Harry knew no more.

**A.N.- My description of Harry's panic attack is how mine tend to occur, my body realizes it's panicking and so my breathing usually gets really deep and calm but my head and stomach will kill me for hours afterwards. Oh, and the Honda FR-V was listed on a website as one of the most popular larger vehicles for England, not sure if it's true but..eh..the car looked cool. **

**Review Responses: "This is easier and the site doesn't yell at me for it"**

**Juxshoa: Most of the 13yr old boys I've taught do not have the best impulse control. If it comes into their head, it's out their mouth, especially if they feel someone has moved in on their 'territory.' I'm trying not to make this a Ron-bashing fic, but it could go either way, honestly at this point I think it's going to turn into one of those 'duke it out and are best friends for life' situations, but not sure at the moment.**

**Scififan33: Sorry, can't answer your first question yet, to quote River Song "Spoilers!" but as far as your second question goes that will be answered next week, which will be posted either next Saturday or earlier if I decided I like what I've written. **


	6. Chapter 6

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Six: Week One**

_Harry felt himself slipping into unconsciousness as the screaming grew louder and his body became progressively more numb from the increasing chill in the air. The last of his vision was fleeing when Harry heard a voice from some distance away yelling as a bright green light filled the compartment, then Harry knew no more. _

* * *

Harry groaned and wondered why he was lying on the cold ground shivering; it was disconcerting to be sleeping on a cold, hard substance after several weeks of sleeping in a warm, soft environment.

Peeling open heavy eyelids, Harry realized that he was laying on the floor of the train compartment, his head cradled in Sephiroth's lap with Hermione kneeling on his right and Ron on his left. An adult in a shabby looking robe stood in the doorway his wand drawn and pointed further down the carriage, when he noticed Harry's eyes on him he smiled and crouched in the doorway at Harry's feet.

"Here, eat this it will help counteract the effect of the Dementors." He held out four bars of chocolate for Hermione to take, before closing the compartment door.

While Hermione handed out the bars of chocolate, Sephiroth and Ron helped Harry off the floor and back onto a seat.

"Harry, are you alright? When the Dementor came to the door, you suddenly fell to the floor and started screaming," asked Hermione, handing out the chocolate bars.

"Yeah, you were screaming and then Sephiroth stood up and yelled, 'Get away from him' and this weird green light came out of nowhere and threw the Dementor out of the compartment. Then that man came and this bright white light chased the thing out of the train. It was bloody awesome," interrupted Ron, jumping up and down chocolate bar half eaten in his fist.

"It was not awesome," hissed Sephiroth glaring across the compartment at Ron, "your _best friend_ was lying on the floor screaming and you think it was _bloody awesome_."

He harshly broke off bits of the chocolate bar to feed himself and Harry, watching closely each time to make sure that Harry actually ate. Ron's ears went red as he spluttered and looked toward Harry, as though he would agree with the 'awesomeness' of what had occurred. Harry, however, agreed with Sephiroth and so he decided to keep his mouth shut for once and eat the chocolate that was being forced on him.

Ron huffed and looked to Hermione for support; however, Hermione was currently standing on the bench, head buried in her trunk, chocolate bar half way hanging out of her mouth as she muttered what sounded like 'dementors' and 'protection.' With another huff, Ron threw himself backwards in his seat and bit into his chocolate bar.

Hermione finally emerged from her trunk with a book and settled on the bench, completely ignoring the sulking Ron and the still shivering Harry being fussed over by a concerned Sephiroth. Harry had to smirk a little sadly at the fact that Hermione was more concerned with knowledge than whether or not Harry was okay, although he could take it as a sign that Hermione was beginning to trust Sephiroth.

* * *

Harry was still feeling shaky when they arrived at Hogsmeade Station and felt no shame for leaning on Sephiroth as they proceeded to the horseless carriages. Harry stumbled a bit as Sephiroth paused, looking with confusion at the area where horses would normally be. When Harry gave him a confused look he simply shook his head and helped Harry up into the carriage.

Professor McGonagall was waiting at the top of the stairs with Professors Sprout and Flitwick as students got off the carriages, handing out chocolate bars and blankets to students who still looked a little shaky. When she caught sight of Harry leaning against Sephiroth as they walked up the stairs trailed by Ron and Hermione, she signaled Harry and Sephiroth to come with her after sending Ron and Hermione scurrying off to the Great Hall with a look.

Her mouth twisted into a moue of disapproval as she took in Harry's ragged appearance before turning to Sephiroth, "You must be our new transfer student. Headmaster Dumbledore has stated that you are to be sorted before the first years, so if you will come with me."

Harry smiled and pushed the obviously reluctant Sephiroth after the rapidly disappearing McGonagall, waiting until both had disappeared into the waiting room where first years arrived from the boat before entering the Great Hall and taking the seat his friends had saved for him.

When the doors opened, Harry had to quickly stifle the laughter that tried to escape when he saw Sephiroth walking in with all the students, most not even half of his height. The glare sent his direction by gleaming green eyes let him know he was not entirely successful in containing his glee.

"_**Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast…"**_

_**Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after the search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business…They are stationed at every entrance to the ground," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises—or even Invisibility Cloaks. On a happier note," he continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year."**_

"_**First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."**_

Dumbledore waited for the much more enthusiastic clapping to finish, once again raising his hands for attention, "Before we begin the long awaited sorting of our first years, we have a very special sorting to take place this year, our transfer student Sephiroth Crescent-Fair," Dumbledore waved Sephiroth to join Professor McGonagall on the stage while the hesitant applause died out, "Mr. Fair has decided to join us from our sister school, Mahoutokoro."

Harry watched with bated breath as Sephiroth took a seat on the rickety three legged stool and Professor McGonagall lowered the Sorting Hat onto his starlight hair. The whole school quieted as one minute, then two, three, four passed and the hat did not say anything. Finally at the five minute mark, the seam split as the Hat yelled.

"Ravenclaw!"

Sephiroth calmly removed the hat from his head, handed it to Professor McGonagall, bowed shallowly to the table of wildly clapping 'Claws, and promptly proceeded to the Gryffindor table to settle beside Harry. Harry had to duck his head into Sephiroth's shoulder to hide the wide smile that threatened to show at McGonagall's shocked look of disapproval, Flitwick's look of amusement, and Dumbledore's merrily sparkling eyes.

After Sephiroth's unorthodox choice of seating, the remainder of the sorting and Welcoming Feast proceeded per usual. Once the last first year had taken their seat, the Weasley twins introduced themselves and quickly began bemoaning the fact that they had never thought about sitting at a different table when they had been sorted. Hermione berated the twins and attempted to berate Sephiroth, but he turned a deaf ear to her admonishments as he pestered Harry into eating full plate of food.

By the time Sephiroth separated from the Gryffindors to go up to the Ravenclaw dormitories, Harry was no longer shaking and was beginning to feel like this year might finally be a calm one, psychotic killer after his life or not.

* * *

Harry dropped his school bag on the floor in the Great Hall and plopped himself down on the bench. Slowly, he toppled sideways until the only thing keeping him from hitting the ground was Sephiroth.

A poke to his forehead had Harry peeling open weary eyes to see the other Ravenclaws casting him surprised glances around the books and homework they had open on the table. Unlike the Gryffindor table, they were quiet in their observations and Harry found it quite easy to ignore them.

A second poke to the forehead caused Harry to roll his eyes sideways without moving his head to see Sephiroth looking at him with concerned eyes. Sephiroth looked from Harry's eyes down to the table and Harry felt himself involuntarily following the action to see a plate set in his place with two large slabs of homemade bread smothered in butter, a selection of roast vegetables, and a small piece of roast beef. Harry had to smile at the choices, Seph had paid attention to what Harry preferred when he was living with him and had made an effort to select things Harry would prefer to eat over the heavier fare most of the students preferred.

With a sigh, Harry pulled the plate closer to Sephiroth's and proceeded to eat without taking his head off of Sephiroth's shoulder. He could almost feel the eye roll, but since Sephiroth did not push him off or say anything, Harry did not feel the need to actually move.

Between the death omens in Divination class and Malfoy screwing up Care of Magical Creatures by not listening to Hagrid, the first day of Third year was not off to a good start.

_I wonder if locking myself in the Chamber of Secrets for the rest of the year would be too dramatic of a reaction, _mused Harry, twisting his last bite of bread back and forth in front of his eyes.

"Either eat your bread or put it on your plate. Once you finish eating your coming back to my room to rest. And don't even try to argue about homework, I know you were not going to start on it yet anyway," stated Sephiroth when Harry opened his mouth to argue.

Harry popped his piece of bread into his mouth and grinned as he settled more comfortably on Sephiroth's shoulder waiting for him to finish his own food.

Together they traipsed up the long hallways of Hogwarts, heading to the Ravenclaw dormitories. Harry knew that the Ravenclaw dormitory was in a tower similar to the Gryffindor dorms, but this was his first time to be in their dorm.

The riddle to get in was interesting, Harry would never get in by himself, and it reminded him of that story they read in primary school _Alice in Wonderland_ with the talking doorknob. Sephiroth had laughed when he mentioned that. Sephiroth pulled him quickly through the circular common room, not allowing him time to see much more than books lining the walls and stacked haphazardly in piles around the tables and chairs.

The stairs up to the living quarters branched off around an ornate statue of a lady wearing a long dress and a strange piece of headgear. Harry would have liked to stay and look at the statue, but Sephiroth did not pause as he continued up the left hand staircase and to the third door.

The dark wood door opened to reveal a room containing a single bed, two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and a desk situated below a small window. All the wood furniture was the same dark color as the door and had dark bronze fixtures. The floor was covered in a dark blue rug with bronze spirals that set off the slightly paler shade of blue on the bed linens and comforter.

Harry kicked off his shoes and threw himself down on the bed, sighing as he felt the muscles in his back and shoulders release. He sighed and burrowed even deeper in the bed as long fingers began running through his unruly hair, working out kinks and knots in a patient manner to keep from yanking. The soothing rhythm and the soft bed worked wonders in relaxing Harry.

"Now that you are relaxed, care to tell me what had you so worked up? We've only been here twenty-four hours and you came to dinner looking like you did that night you blew up your aunt."

"Mghbleghm," mumbled Harry, face still buried in the bed. Those soothing fingers tightened for just a moment before returning to their gentle petting. Taking the silent reprimand for what it was, Harry tilted his head to the side so that Sephiroth would continue to pet his hair while he talked in an understandable manner.

"We got lost on the way to Divination, had to ask this crazy knight painting how to get there. Once we were there the completely batty professor deciding to start prophesying my death, very loudly and drawing the attention of the entire class. According to Professor McGonagall, she does this every year, but I wish she would not draw attention to me like that," started Harry, really getting into the rhythm of complaining to a sympathetic ear, "Then we get to Care of Magical Creatures and Hagrid decided to start us off with Hippogriffs. They're pretty cool creatures, but Malfoy had to ruin the entire lesson by ignoring Hagrid's instructions. It's entirely his fault that he got attacked. Hagrid _told_ us that Hippogriffs are proud and that you _have_ to bow before you can approach them. He's such a prat," another quick tightening of those fingers, "what, it's the truth, he thinks just because his father is some big shot Lord with money and connections, he can do whatever he wants. It's annoying."

"Hmmm, dilly-dally, shilly-shally."

Harry turned his head more where he could lock one green eye on Sephiroth's face in complete and total confusion for that nonsense bit of advice. Sephiroth was leaning against the headboard looking at the ceiling, but he could not help a smile when he glanced down and saw the incredulous look Harry was giving him.

"Dilly-dally, shilly-shally. That's what Aerith says to Zack and his best friend when they know what they need to do and aren't doing it. You know what you need to do, you just don't want to actually do it. If you don't like Divination, drop it and change classes, I personally think you would like Ancient Runes, but Arithmancy might be good too. As for Care of Magical Creatures, Harry, you're a student, Hagrid is an adult, and if he can't keep his class in line then that is his fault. True, Malfoy should have listened, but you are not in charge of the class, the adult is."

Harry glared, but Sephiroth held up his free hand before Harry could make a comment.

"Listen, I know you are used to looking after yourself, it makes sense to me, it really does. But Harry, _you_ are not in charge of anything other than yourself. You need to focus on you, not anyone else. Hagrid is an adult, he can look after himself, and if Dumbledore thinks he is capable to be a teacher then he will have to be the one to take care of it."

"Hagrid was my first friend; I don't want him to have to deal with this on his own."

"You're not abandoning him; you're simply letting him fight his own fight while you fight yours. You have a big heart, but that means you push yourself to taking care of everyone else and forget about yourself."

"Hmmm," Harry burrowed into Sephiroth's side and threw an arm across his lap.

"So, what you can take care of at this point in time is your Divination class. Option one is to continue to take the class and deal with the teacher. Option two is to switch the class to either Arithmancy or the Study of Ancient Runes. Option three is to drop the class and not choose another, but that would probably not be a good choice, since it would look bad on a future resume."

They sat together quietly as the light streaming through the window slowly faded away with the setting sun. Sephiroth had made some good points, but it was still hard for Harry to reconcile Sephiroth's common sense statements with his feelings. His options concerning Divination were easier to comprehend, but that did not make it easy to decide. Dropping the class meant that he would no longer be in all of his class with Ron, but he would get away from the downright disturbing attention of their bug-eyed teacher. It was a hard decision to make, but Sephiroth's comment about only being able to control himself kept bouncing around his mind.

As the sun finished setting, Sephiroth roused Harry from where he had been lounging and together they got ready for bed, curling up together as they had done every night for the last few weeks.

Just as he was drifting off, Harry mumbled to Sephiroth, "I'll go talk to Professor McGonagall in the morning and see about switching to Ancient Runes."

* * *

**A.N.-This chapter was much easier to write than the one previous and I am no longer mad at uncooperative characters.**

**Reviews-**

**First to everyone who reviewed that the last chapter was good-Thank you very much it made me feel much better about how this was going and happier with my writing.**

**Juxshoa-There will not be any pairings in this story, since the kids are only thirteen. I do plan to carry this out until the end of the book series so pairings will likely be introduced in the timeline of either book 5 or 6 and it will be canon pairings and possibly other pairings. I can already say that it will not be Ginny and Harry together, in the book I like their pairing, but that won't happen here in these stories. So, to answer your question, this story will be gen, but later on that will change.**

**Challenge: If someone can guess correctly why I aged the triplets how I did then I will attempt to use your screen name in the story.**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Seven: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!**

"Where were you last night," hissed Hermione as Harry settled on the bench at Gryffindor table across from where she and Ron were eating breakfast, "You disappeared after dinner and didn't come back at all last night according to Ron."

"Yeah, if you were going off an adventure you should have gotten us," grumbled Ron shoveling food into his mouth.

Hermione elbowed Ron in the ribs, causing him to choke on his latest mouthful, "Harry shouldn't be out wandering the halls, no one should be. Didn't you hear Professor Dumbledore at the Welcome Feast; they think Sirius Black might be coming here to the school."

Harry was glad that Ron appeared to be over whatever had set him off at Diagon Alley and on the train ride here, but he was a little annoyed that he thought Harry would be going off on an 'adventure.' Last year was more than enough adventure to last Harry for a lifetime with the Basilisk nearly shutting down the school, and he would prefer not to have a repeat of the Quirrel-possession incident.

However, he decided to focus on Hermione's comment instead of Ron's assumption, "Hermione, what makes you think Sirius Black is heading here to Hogwarts? Shouldn't he be trying to leave England?"

"Yeah, I mean if I was an escaped mass murdered, I would be running as far from the dementors and Azakaban as I could." Ron scooted down the bench as far as he could without ending up on top of Dean in order to avoid a repeat of Hermione's elbow.

"Honestly," huffed Hermione, glaring at both boys, "do either of you ever listen when people talk? Professor Dumbledore said the other night that the dementors are here on Ministry business. Their watching the entrances to the school and they searched the train. I doubt the Ministry would have them wasting time here looking for Sirius Black if they didn't think he was coming here."

Harry was shocked at Hermione's ability to reach correct conclusions with very little information, but he at least managed to keep his mouth closed unlike Ron.

"Don't think I've forgotten that you haven't answered my first question, where were you last night Harry? You can't just go disappearing. The only reason I didn't go get Professor McGonagall last night is because I watched you leave the Great Hall with Sephiroth and assumed you were with him. He at least seems smart enough to keep you out of trouble for one night."

Hermione and Sephiroth were never allowed to gang up on Harry together to get information; they were both far too perceptive and scarily good at glaring a person into submission.

"I was with Sephiroth in the Ravenclaw dormitory last night. We were discussing how much of a prat Malfoy was in Care of Magical Creatures and how creepy Professor Trelawney was in class. It was past curfew by the time we finished and I didn't feel like running into Professor Snape on our first night of the school year."

"You got to see the Ravenclaw Dorms," whisper shouted Ron, trying, and failing, to not draw the attention of their table mates as he leaned across the table, "What was it like? Gryffindor is much cooler right, I mean, their common room is probably full of dusty old books and those hard library chairs. And I bet it's really quiet. Did the prefects yell at anyone for being loud?"

Harry blinked in shock, "Ummm, I didn't really get a good look at their common room, but what I saw was covered in books. I didn't see any prefects or many other people. We went straight up to Seph's room. Oh, they don't have to share dorm rooms, not sure how that works, but Sephiroth had a room all to himself."

"What that is totally unfair."

"How is that possible, sure Ravenclaw has a slightly fewer students than Gryffindor, but they still shouldn't have enough room in the tower to give each student their own room. I wonder if the library has a book on making the inside of a space bigger than the outside."

"Harry got to see a different House's common room and saw that they get their own rooms and you're more worried about architect, not where it is or how to get in?"

Harry finished off his bowl of honey-sweetened porridge and moved on to some heavily buttered pieces of toast as he watched Ron and Hermione argue about whether Harry should convince Sephiroth to allow them into the Ravenclaw dorms, if the boys should help Hermione research how they dorms could possibly be bigger on the inside than the outside, or if this would be a good way to prank the entirety of the Ravenclaws. That plan of Ron's had set Hermione off on a rant about how pranking the 'Claws in their own house would be a severe break in trust between both Sephiroth and Harry, and the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws.

It was amusing watching Ron attempt to simultaneously backpeddle and defend his wants to Hermione, but Harry did not stick around to listen to Ron dig himself a deeper hole as he caught sight of Professor McGonagall leaving the Great Hall. Quickly, he grabbed up his school bag and rushed out of the hall, hoping to catch up with her before she made it to her classroom.

Luck seemed to be on his side for once, because when he left the Great Hall it was to see Professor McGonagall just beginning to ascend the stairs and the only students about were some older Hufflepuffs.

"Professor McGonagall, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Harry stopped at the base of the stairs as his Head of House turned and looked down at him, her severe bun and spectacles cutting an intimidating figure in the early morning sunlight of the Front Hall. Harry knew that he could talk to his Head of House about his classes or anything else, but it was hard to remember that when he was face to face with the stern Scotswoman.

"What is it I can help you with Mr. Potter. I doubt even you have managed to find trouble in the single day that we have been back at school, no matter what Professor Trelawney has decided to predict for you."

"Actually, Professor Trelawney is what I wanted to talk to you about, Professor." Harry shuffled his feet and wrung his fingers together, looking anywhere but his professor.

"I am not your Divination Professor Mr. Potter, I cannot predict what you would like to ask me."

"Right, ummm…would it be possible for me to switch from Divination to Ancient Runes?"

"Mr. Potter you have only had one class, I am not sure that it enough time to truly know if you want to change a class."

"I understand that Professor," interrupted Harry, "but would it be possible to change, I don't think me and Professor Trelawney are going to be a really good fit."

Harry felt like Professor McGonagall was scanning his very soul with her sharp eyes and pursed lips as he attempted to stand as straight as possible, hoping to impress on her how serious he was about needing to change classes.

Finally, she sighed and her eyes seemed to sharpen even more under her square glasses, "As I said Mr. Potter, one day is really not enough time to know if you truly want to quit a class. However," she held up a hand to forestall Harry's complaint, "if you are truly serious about changing the class, then I can see about adding you to Ancient Runes, seeing as it is at a different time then Divination, and if you are still adamant about changing classes at the end of October then we can discuss removal from the class then."

His nose wrinkled at the thought of adding another class to his schedule, but if this was the only way to get out of Divination then he would probably have to take it. Plus it would mean that he would finally have a class with Sephiroth, and he would not have to immediately drop his class with Ron and Hermione.

"That would be acceptable Professor McGonagall. Thank you for helping me."

"Very well, I will see you again at the end of October. Try to make that the earliest I will see you." Harry blushed under her raised eyebrow, but quickly agreed, even more determined to follow his resolution of no more adventures this year.

* * *

Harry felt that his friends' reactions to his joining Ancient Runes adequately summed up their personalities. Ron was completely horrified that Harry would add another class to his schedule. Hermione was thrilled and helped him with owl ordering the required books. Sephiroth was just calmly accepting of the entire thing, not caring one way or the other what class Harry was in, since they generally ate either lunch or dinner together in the Great Hall.

Thursday was an eventful day. Ron started talking to Harry again after ignoring him all day Wednesday, apparently with Hermione focusing on making sure that Harry was able to keep up in Ancient Runes, Ron was not being bugged every day to do his homework and quite liked not be bugged everyday to get his homework done.

They also had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class on Thursday. Professor Lupin seemed like he would be a good teacher; especially since his practical demonstration went much better than Professor Lockhart's attempt with the Cornish Pixies had. Harry was somewhat disappointed that he did not get a chance to try and face the boggart, but also relieved. It would have been highly embarrassing if it had turned into Uncle Vernon or Dudley in front of everyone.

The Gryffindors were entering the Great Hall, still discussing the lesson and the ridiculous things that they had managed to turn the creature into. Harry veered off from the rowdy group of Gryffindors and wandered down the Ravenclaw table-excited to discuss with Sephiroth what fear his boggart might have become-listening to snippets of gossip as he went.

"…changed into a vampire…"

"Wonder if a Cheering Charm would…"

"…feathers all over the ground…"

"….green light wisps everywhere…"

"This year is going much better than last year's…"

"Going to need to study for…"

Harry was getting concerned when he reached the section of table that the second years had claimed for their own and still had not caught sight of Sephiroth's distinctive silver hair, by the time he reached the last of the third years he was really worried. Missing meals was more Harry's modus operandi than Sephiroth's and even over the summer he had never missed a meal.

Confused, Harry turned to a one of the third years, "Do you know where Sephiroth is?"

The boy, he was pretty sure his name was Terry Boot, looked to his friends in confusion before looking back up at Harry, "We were in Defense class and it was Fair's turn to face the boggart. As soon as it changed, he pushed Padma in front of it and took off out of the class before anyone could get a really good glimpse of what it was."

"Did any of you see what it was or know where he might have gone?"

"I saw these green wisps of light," spoke up an Asian girl sitting a little further down the table with Pavarti's twin, Padma.

"I caught sight of black and white feathers before it changed for me," whispered Padma. The girls voices must have been the ones he caught earlier talking about feathers and light as he walked up the table.

"Does anyone know if he went back to his room after?"

The boys looked at each other and all of them, boys and girls together, shook their heads.

"I ran up there really fast before dinner and didn't see him or a light on in his room," answered a dark haired boy, Harry thought was named Roger something-he really needed to start paying more attention to the students in other houses.

"Thanks," mumbled Harry before wandering out of the Great Hall, intent on locating where Sephiroth had gone.

* * *

Harry had checked the Library, the Astronomy Tower, every empty classroom between the Defense classroom and the Library, and was now standing on the second floor corridor where the staircase from the Library let out, attempting to come up with a plan that did not consist of manually searching each room.

With a groan, Harry set off down the corridor, resigned to searching, possibly for the rest of the night. He was only partially down the hallway when he was grabbed and pulled into a darkened alcove, an arm across his chest and a hand over his mouth. Automatic reflexes kicked in and had him lashing out with feet and nails, landing several good blows and scratches if the grunts were any indication.

"Wow, wow…"

"…calm down little brother."

"**We're only here to help."**

The Weasley twins' voices finally registered through the intrinsic panic that had settled over him at being grabbed unexpectedly. He slumped into the warm chest at his back, the loss of adrenaline leaving his muscles feeling like noodles.

"Note to selves…"

"…don't sneak up on our little snake."

Harry rolled his eyes and glared at the smirking red head in front of him, ignoring the nickname they had given him during second year, "Why are you two lurking in dark corridors waiting to ambush me?"

"Awww, listing to ickle Harrikins…"

"…using big words like 'lurking' and 'ambush'."

"**Who have you been hanging out with?"**

Harry threw his head back harshly into the chest supporting him and lashed out once more with a kick to the knee of the twin in front of him. When they were both sent reeling in opposite directions, he used the opportunity to scurry out of the alcove and back into the corridor where he had more room to maneuver around the two crazy older boys.

Finally out in the open, Harry could tell that the twin jumping around on one leg was Fred and the one rubbing his chest was George. Both were being overdramatic in Harry's opinion, he did not manage to hit them that hard.

"If you two do not intend to answer my question, then I'm going to be leaving. I have a lot more searching to do."

"Calm…"

"…calm"

"**We might be able to help you in your search."**

After two years, Harry really should be wary of that smile coming from either twin, much less both of them together; but the twins had never pranked Harry. Plus they were fifth years, they likely knew of a better way than walking to each classroom to check.

"I'm listening," said Harry, affecting his best 'Professor Snape-you-are-all-dunderheads-and-I'm-done-dealing-with-you' look.

The twins' smiles grew even wider, if that was at all possible, and Fred pulled a folded-up parchment out of his back pocket. Harry raised a skeptical eye brow but gave the twins a chance to explain what they were up to.

"This, dear brother is one of the …"

"…many secrets to our numerous success."

"You see this is no ordinary piece of parchment…"

"…it is a magical map."

"**The Marauder's Map."**

George grinned and held his wand tip to the parchment as Fred waved Harry closer.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_

Harry watched in amazement as the front of the parchment 'bled' ink across it forming a title.

_Messers. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

_Are proud to present_

_**The Marauder's Map**_

"This little, old map…"

"…shows every classroom…"

"…every secret passage…"

"…and every person…"

"…be they ghost…"

"…or living…"

"…**in the whole school. Let's find your missing Raven."**

Together the three boys poured over each layer of the map, looking for the tiny set of footprints labeled with Sephiroth's name. After several long minutes of searching, they finally located his footprints moving across the Front Hall from the direction of the giant doors leading outside.

Harry threw a quick 'thank you' over his shoulder to the twins before rushing down the corridor, aiming to reach the top of the stairs at the same time as Sephiroth. Once again, luck was finally on Harry's side as he slid to a stop at the top of the stairs, narrowly avoiding colliding with Sephiroth.

"Harry, what are you doing?"

"I'm looking for you. You weren't at dinner and the other Ravenclaws said you disappeared from Defense Class." Harry bent over, catching his breath from running so fast to reach the stairs, "Your Defense Class was before lunch wasn't it?"

Sephiroth looked at Harry with puzzled black eyes, the green almost completely swamped by his pupils. Long pale fingers wrapped around Harry's wrist as he was pulled down the corridor to an empty classroom.

Looking around, Harry took a moment to wonder why so many classrooms were empty in the castle and just left unlocked for students to wander into. There was no telling what a student could get up to in one of these. He was concerned for Sephiroth, he had never seen him pace like he was doing currently or his pupils get larger than the cat slits they normally were; but he also knew that Sephiroth was just like him. He would clam up instantly if he thought Harry was pushing for information, better to let him start talking on his own.

"When I was…younger...I had two friends a few years older than me. Some…things happened to them, one went insane and the other died. That boggart today reminded me of them and I needed some time to clear my head, that's all. There's nothing to worry about."

"Hmmm," hummed Harry, tilting his head to the side, "not quite sure I believe that there is nothing to worry about, but we can drop it for now if you don't feel like talking about it."

He knew he had taken the right approach when he watched the tension leave Sephiroth's shoulders and when he actually turned around to face Harry, his pupils were returning to their more normal slit appearance. But he figured there was still one more thing he could do to put Sephiroth back into a good mood.

"You know, at least Professor Lupin let you face the boggart. I think he might believe me too 'delicate' to handle creatures after what happened on the train with the dementor. Although, I guess I also have to thank him for not letting me. Knowing my luck it would turn into Uncle Vernon saying all kinds of nasty things about me and my parents. Malfoy, _and_ Professor Snape, would have a field day with that information."

'_Definitely the right approach,'_ thought Harry, mentally smirking as he watched Sephiroth roll his eyes, the beginnings of a smile twitching at the corners of his lips.

"Now," exclaimed Harry, clapping his hands loudly and bouncing off the desktop he had been sitting on to go and grab Sephiroth's hand, "we missed dinner in the Great Hall, so I'm going to let you in on a little Hogwarts secret. Do you know what happens when you tickle a pear?"

Sephiroth groaned as he allowed Harry to pull him out of the room, "You spent way too much time with Zack this summer."

Both boys were laughing as they wandered down to the kitchen, looking for food.

* * *

**A.N.-This chapter was originally supposed to cover all the way to the crew's first Hogsmeade visit, but by the time I reached page 5 and realized I was still on the boggart lesson, I figured I wasn't going to get that far. By the time I reached page eight right above here, I knew it was time to stop. So next chapter will start around the time of the appearance of Sirius Black and hopefully that one will carry on to Hogsmeade, at this point there is no telling though. If anyone catches me using supper instead of dinner let me know, its automatic to type supper so…yeah, fun. Also the addition of this chapter puts the word count of this story at almost 20,000 words. That is a lot when you take it in all together. **

**Reviews-Thank you to those who liked the last chapter!**

**FireEmblemLover39-Sorry you feel that Harry is out of character, but I'm trying to write him similar to a true abused child who is starting to create a system of trust and support. Once an abused kid feels comfortable and safe with either a situation or a person, they begin trying to find their true personality under their 'training.' The majority of those children become clingy and enjoy positive forms of physical contact as it lets them know they are safe and not a bother. I can tell you now that Genesis and Angeal definitely won't show up in this book, but they may arrive later on. I have no plans for Cloud's involvement in anything at this point, but I'm not always in charge of who does what at any point in time in the writing.**

**Juxshoa-I can't decide if answering your question will give away spoilers for later on in the story, which I guess kinda supplies an answer in and of itself. I can tell you however, that Sephiroth's power was a bit more than just regular accidental magic.**

**The Real Hell Fire-Call it prudishness but I don't think relationships should start at 13 or 14, plus in this story Harry was psychologically abused growing up, it's going to take him a while to figure out positive emotions. **


	8. Chapter 8

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Eight: Visits and Visitors**

After the incident with the boggart, Sephiroth had to convince Harry not to go looking in the abandoned classrooms for one in order to see what his would become, one time even dragging him out of a room by the collar of his robe when he 'would not listen to reason, and was being an idiot'-Defense Against the Dark arts quickly became Harry and Sephiroth, as well as the rest of the school's, favorite class. Sephiroth and Hermione had gotten into a great row in the library after their next class where they were introduced to Red Caps. Sephiroth had been helping Harry and Ron to complete their essays and had mentioned that as long as you avoided the first sneak attack, then it was quite simple to hit them with an elemental spell and be done with the fight. Hermione had questioned where Sephiroth had found that information, since she had not seen it when she was doing her research, and would not relent until he had explained that it was practical knowledge learned while he was still in Japan. She and Ron both had tried to get the story from him, but Sephiroth had stubbornly kept his mouth shut.

After ten minutes of pestering the silent silverette, Ron had finally had enough, "I don't believe you actually did fight a Red Cap, otherwise why would you not tell us about it."

"One does not need to proclaim their accomplishments for everyone to hear for them to have truly happened. And whether you believe me or not is truly of no consequence to me. I told you that it happened and that should be enough information for you." Sephiroth raised one eyebrow in a look reminiscent of Snape after Neville managed to blow up another cauldron.

Hermione and Ron had both flushed at Sephiroth's quiet, but forceful, answer-Hermione in shame and Ron in anger. Harry buried his head in his book to keep from laughing out loud at the, soon to be typical, interaction between his three friends, but he still managed to catch the smirk Sephrioth sent his way out of the corner of his eye.

While Harry was glad Defense Class was going so well, he could not say the same for Potions or Divination. With the rumor mill of Hogwarts being as active as it was, it was truly no surprise that Snape had heard about the boggart changing into him and being dressed in Neville's grandmother's clothes. Potions class had become unbearable after that, with Snape stalking around, breathing down all the Gryffindor's necks waiting for them to make the smallest 'mistake'-such as 'chopping too loudly' or 'interrupting the class by whispering'- in order for him to have an excuse to take points.

Sephiroth had stormed into the Great Hall after the joint Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff Potions class during the second week of Snape making everyone's life a living hell, and thrown himself down beside Harry at the Gryffindor table muttering darkly about "...greasy bastards who think themselves above everyone else."

Having noticed the slight glow radiating from his eyes as Sephiroth threw himself down on the bench, Harry was quick to distract Hermione and Ron from asking any questions. The only time over the summer that Harry had ever heard Aerith raise her voice was when Kadaj and Yazoo had gotten into a knock-down, drag-out fight in the sitting room. Their eyes had been glowing then much like Sephiroth's were now and he did not want to chance a repeat of that fight, he did not think even the professors had much chance of stopping it if Sephiroth really got going.

If Potions was bad then Divination was worse, Harry wished that Professor McGonagall had allowed him to drop the class after that first lesson. Every class period was more of Professor Trelawney predicting his gruesome demise and imminent, painful death . The woman had even managed to produce tears while looking at him for Merlin's sake!

The predictions were easy enough to ignore, seeing as he had survived facing the 'worst Dark Lord in a century' three times and faced a sixty foot Basilisk and won, Harry assumed he and Death had a pretty good working relationship going on. What was not so easy to deal with was how Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil had decided to almost deify the batty professor and follow her example in their dealings with Harry. If he had to deal with one more instance of them treating him as though he was on death's door, then he was going to pull a Kadaj and stab someone with a fork.

Care of Magical Creatures had become boring with Hagrid refusing to show the class some of the more interesting creatures that he had located in the Forbidden Forest. Harry agreed that it was probably a wise teaching decision considering Malfoy's threat, but he wished they had something more interesting to do than care for flobberworms.

* * *

There were very few upsides to Harry's boring and frustrating weeks, but spending part of a summer Aerith, he was determined to adopt her philosophy of always looking on the bright side of things. Harry had always been a realist, from the time he was five and realized no white knight or unknown family member would ever come to rescue him from his cupboard under the stairs, but he had never been truly happy all the time. During one of the down times over the summer, when he was helping Aerith with her gardening, he had asked her how she was always so cheerful. He had seen the darkness hidden in her eyes, it was the same darkness and sadness that he saw lurking in his own reflection and that he had noticed in Sephiroth and Zack and the triplets. Unlike himself though, this family was happy even with their sadness. Harry doubted he would ever achieve that happiness, but it would not hurt to ask the least assuming of the group about it.

Aerith had laughed in her cheerful way and explained that the only way to be happy when everything was going wrong, was to look for the little things that make everything go right. Find one hobby, one thing you like to do and is in your control, that makes the day seem better.

So Harry decided to focus on the things that made his weeks enjoyable, hoping to forget about the terrible start to his third year of classes. His favorites were the times he could spend flying during Quidditch practice-Oliver Wood was determined to win the Cup this year and had the team out practicing in every type of weather and as often as he could get the field; watching Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, attempt to eat Scabbers, Ron's pet rat, at every opportunity; and waiting for the first Hogsmeade visit of the year.

A few weeks before Halloween, Harry had returned from Quidditch frozen to the core, but happy from his time in the air, to find Hermione and Ron, and the rest of the Common Room talking excitedly about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend on the thirty-first. Harry had been content to listen to his friends talk, not yet telling them that his uncle had signed his permission slip and he would be allowed to go with them and Sephiroth.

Everything had been quiet and peaceful, or as quiet and peaceful as the Gryffindor common room ever got, until Crookshanks had taken a flying leap from Hermione's lap and attempted to get at Scabbers, who was 'safely' tucked away in Ron's bag. Harry stayed safely ensconced in his seat and hid his amusement at the ensuing scuffle and argument. He understood why Ron was so upset, but Crookshanks was a cat and Scabbers was a rat. It made sense that Crookshanks would chase the dying creature, it was easy prey; and honestly Harry thought Ron should just allow him to be caught to put the thing out of its misery.

* * *

Halloween morning dawned bright and beautiful with perfect blue skies. Harry spent breakfast focused on his plate and pretending to pout into his plate while secretly hiding the smile that wanted to break free.

He had gone early that morning before Ron or even Hermione had woken, in order to go speak to Professor McGonagall.

_Early that morning:_

Harry crept out of the portrait hole guarding the common room and ran down the hallway to Professor McGonagall's office. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Harry knocked insistently on the door, hoping the Professor would be there so early on a Saturday morning. Once again luck was finally on Harry's side as he heard the stern Professor's Scottish brogue calling for him to enter.

"Mr. Potter, what can I help you with this early on a Saturday morning, I thought you would be taking this chance to sleep in as many of your classmates are doing."

"Well," began Harry, attempting to stand still and not fiddle with his hands, "you said that I needed to wait until Halloween to decide if I really wanted to quit Divination. And...well, I do still want to quit the class."

"Well Mr. Potter, you have stuck with the class as long as I told you too. I will talk to your Ancient Runes teacher today and, if they tell me that you have been doing well, then you may withdraw from Professor Trelawney's class. I will let you know at lunch what my decision is." Professor McGonagall pierced him with her sharp eyes over her rectangular glasses, conveying with eyes alone her expectations for Harry to not embarrass Gryffindor House by not doing his best in a class he had asked to be placed in.

"Thank you Professor! But I will have to get your answer at dinner, the third years have their first Hogsmeade weekend."

Harry watched as Professor McGonagall's eyes widened in surprise, "Mr. Potter, I was not aware you were going to Hogsmeade. I believed the Headmaster spoke to you about remaining in the castle this year."

"No, Professor Dumbledore hasn't spoken to me, but if you're worried about Sirius Black, I know to be careful. Mr. Weasley warned me before we got on the Hogwarts express." Harry tilted his head to the side, "I turned in my signed permission slip with everyone else."

Harry really should not have taken as much pleasure at seeing his professor so shocked, but it was nice to see the woman show real emotions. She recovered quickly however and once again pierced Harry with a stern gaze, "Very well Mr. Potter, if you turned your permission slip in and I have your promise of being very careful, then I see no problem with you attending Hogsmeade this weekend. I will let you know my decision about your class schedule before the Halloween Feast."

"Thank you Professor," yelled Harry as he rushed from the office and rushed to the Great Hall to meet Ron and Hermione for breakfast.

Now he sat at the table, listening to an awkward Ron attempt to cheer Harry up. He knew it was probably wrong of him to not let his two best friends know that he had permission to go to Hogsmeade, but neither had ever actually asked if he had gotten his permission slip signed, they had just assumed.

Harry watched as Sephiroth finished his breakfast and left the Ravenclaw table heading for the doors. Smiling he stood up quickly and gave Ron and Hermione a cheeky smile, "See you both in Hogsmeade!"

Laughing he took off, latching onto Sephiroth's arm to slow his forward momentum. Mentally he began the countdown.

_One_

_Two_

_Three_

Harry and Sephiroth made it out of the doors of the Great Hall and into the lobby.

_Four_

_Five _

_Six_

_Seven_

They joined the line of students having their names checked off on the permission list.

_Eight_

_Nine _

_Ten_

"**What!?"**

Harry laughed and watched as Ron and Hermione almost tripped over each other trying to catch up to Harry and Sephiroth. He could feel Sephiroth shaking with laughter which only made him laugh harder.

* * *

Harry felt as though he was on cloud nine. Hogsmeade had been amazing, though Harry made a mental note to not allow Sephiroth into Honeyduke's unless they had finished all other shopping and sight-seeing before hand. Lunch at the Three Broomsticks was filling and the butterbeer was interesting. Zonko's was fun but Harry thought the twin's inventions were more original and inventive, not that he would tell them that any time soon, no need to inflate their egos.

To make things even better, Professor McGonagall had been at the door of the castle checking students back in from Hogsmeade and had kindly informed Harry that she and the Headmaster had approved him dropping Divination, as long as he kept his grades up in Ancient Runes and his other classes. Harry had profusely thanked and assured the professor of his good intentions.

Ron had moaned and whined about Harry ditching him for a 'hard' class, and Hermione had complained that Harry should not drop a class, no matter how much of a 'vapid, insipid, lunatic' the professor was. Sephiroth had simply smiled almost smugly at the news and pulled Harry over to the Ravenclaw table for the Halloween Feast.

Once the feast was over, Harry had happily joined back up with his two friends and they left for the Gryffindor Common Room with others from their year. However, they were unable to get close to the portrait entrance as the hallway was full of Gryffindors from every year milling about and whispering in small groups.

"Clear the way. Clear the way." Percy's voice cut through the whispers as the red headed prefect pushed his way through the crowd, "What is going on here? Why is no one going into the Common Room?"

A voice from the front of the crowd shouted over the other students, "The Fat Lady isn't here. Her portrait is destroyed! Someone attacked Gryffindor Tower!"

* * *

**A.N.- Apologies for the wait on this update, my brain refused to work for anything last week except sleep. However, I seem to be back in the game now and will hopefully be back on a quicker update schedule. On a different note, I got Final Fantasy VII Remake this week and beat the main run through. All I will say about it is IT. IS. AWESOME! I love it. Now reviews for my lovely people. **

**Reviews: Simple answers first**

**APridefulSin and butterflypuss: Thanks for your sweet words and support.**

**The Real Hell Fire: -.- you my friend seem to have only one thing on the mind.**

**Juxshoa- Thanks for the review and I personally love the psychological implications of that being Sephiroth's boggart because it can be taken so many ways. And I completely agree with the poor Angeal and Genesis. There were so many victims in Final Fantasy VII, not just the obvious ones.**

**IkarusFalling-Thank you for the review, I agree Sephiroth and Harry have a good chance of understanding each other. If this does become a Harry/Sephiroth fic it won't be in this book, so I guess technically this fic definitely won't be that. If it does occur it won't be until the boys are closer to 16-17, so around Half Blood Prince or Deathly Hallows. I do hope to carry this universe on through at least Order of the Phoenix, so we'll see where it goes from there. **


	9. Chapter 9

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Eight: Pieces**

Before the students could descend into true chaos and anarchy at the revelation that the Fat Lady had been attacked, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived on the scene and ordered Percy to take everyone down to the Great Hall while they worked to find out what had happened. Harry quietly followed the group as everyone began whispering about how Sirius Black was the only person who could have attacked a place as protected as Hogwarts, after all if he was able to escape an institute as secure as Azkaban then surely he could break into Hogwarts.

He felt anxiety curling in his stomach as he heard the conversations turn to _why_ Sirius Black would be breaking into Hogwarts. If anyone found out about Sirius Black being after him to finish the job that Voldemort had started, then it would be second year all over again. Last year when the duel with Malfoy had revealed that he was a Parslemouth and the entire school had turned against him had been torture and something he had hoped to never have to face again once he entered the Wizarding World. If people learned that Sirius Black was breaking into Hogwarts in an attempt to get to the Boy-Who-Lived, then parents might get involved and the ministry might decide to pull him from Hogwarts, or even worse send him back to the Dursleys for "his own protection." He scoffed quietly to himself as they met up with the Ravenclaws at the door to the Great Hall, he would sooner give himself willingly to Sirius Black's 'mercy' before he returned to the Dursleys during a school year, especially after the fiasco this summer.

Harry looked at his two best friends and felt somewhat guilty for not telling them about being a target, but he did not want them deciding that it was too dangerous to be friends with him anymore. Thinking about friends, he looked around the group of Ravenclaws that had mixed with them and noticed that the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were already in the Great Hall with Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and Sinestra. Locating Sephiroth in the milling mass of hysteric humanity was simple, the shock of silver hair standing out vividly against the predominately brown and blond hair.

Quickly he grabbed Hermione and Ron's wrists and towed them through the crowd to where Sephiroth was standing slightly separated from the others. As they got closer, Harry noticed that Sephiroth appeared to be vibrating where he was standing. Others may believe that he was shaking in fear like some of the other students, but Harry had seen those symptoms once before over the summer when Sephiroth had managed to get into the locked sweets container without Aerith catching him.

Harry released Hermione and Ron's wrist and gently shoved them to be standing behind him. Cautiously he approached Sephiroth, both hands extended palm up where they were easily visible, and watched those luminescent green eyes, the pupils blown wide, follow the movement.

"Seph, I thought you promised not to eat everything we bought at Honeydukes at once. Do I need to write Aerith and tell her that you need to let me keep hold of the sweets?"

Those green eyes narrowed and Sephiroth clutched his school bag, which Harry only noticed now, closer to his chest.

"Mine," he hissed, lips pulled up in a small snarl.

Taking a deep breath, Harry straightened his shoulders and tried to use the same tone of voice that he had heard Zack use on Kadaj when he was being stubborn, "Sephiroth Fair give me the bag, right. now. You know the rule, you can have sugar in the morning, but you are not supposed to have it before bed. And you shouldn't eat enough to put you in this state."

Sephiroth shook his head and clutched his bag even harder, slowly backing away. Harry followed step-for-step, not letting him get too far away. The last thing the school needed was a sugar high Sephiroth running around in the middle of a lock-down.

"Give me the bag or I will make sure you can't go back to Honeydukes until December." That stopped Sephiroth in his tracks and caused him to glare at Harry. He could tell that Sephiroth knew he was serious about the threat, but he would have to make sure that he knew it was possible for Harry to follow through, luckily Harry knew _exactly_ how to make that happen.

He allowed a smirk to show where only Sephiroth could see it and played his trump card, "I'll write Aerith in the morning and tell her what happened," Sephiroth's eyes got big, but Harry was not done yet, "then I'll tell her when every Hogsmeade weekend and how much we would _love_ if she and the boys could join us." Those wide eyes narrowed back into a glare, but Harry knew he had won when Sephiroth took a step closer to him and not away. Reluctantly, the silverette held out the bag and allowed Harry to take it with minimal resistance.

Sighing, Harry quickly stuck the bag behind his back where Sephiroth could not reach it and noticed that someone, most likely one of the professors, had removed the tables from the hall and provided sleeping bags for the students. Ron and Hermione had snagged four of the bags while he was distracted and he sent them a grateful smile. Getting Sephiroth to lie down when he was on a sugar rush would be enough of a pain without losing him while trying to get a sleeping bag.

Eventually the four students managed to find a spot and settle down, Harry once more having to threaten to write Aerith in order to get the twitching Sephiroth to lie down, but all of them were finding it hard to get some rest. Sephiroth kept muttering to himself in a different language, Hermione and Ron were having a whispered conversation about Sirius Black whenever Percy was not close enough to scold them for talking and not sleeping, and Harry was busy guarding the bag of chocolate and wondering what he would do if Sirius Black really did get into the castle.

Hours later, the whispered conversation had finally died down to the occasional comment and Sephiroth had passed out from his sugar crash when Professors Dumbledore and Snape stopped close to where the Trio were quick to pretend to be sleeping.

"_**You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before-ah-the start of term?" said Snape, who was barely opening his lips…**_

"_**I do Severus," said Dumbledore, and there was something like warning in his voice.**_

"_**It seems-almost impossible-that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed-"**_

"_**I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape did not reply. "I must go down to the dementors," said Dumbledore. "I said that I would inform them when our search was complete…."**_

_**Harry glanced sideways at Ron and Hermione. Both of them had their eyes open too, reflecting the starry ceiling.**_

"_**What was all that about?" Ron mouthed. **_

* * *

Harry woke the next morning stiff and still tired from sleeping on the cold floor, but still better off than the now sugar-hung-over Sephiroth. Harry made sure that he collected all of the chocolate from Sephiroth's bag before returning it to the snippy boy. He also sat with the boy at breakfast and made sure he only had the _one_ cup of hot chocolate that he had convinced the house elves to make special for him every morning. Sephiroth had whined and tried to cajole Harry into giving him back his chocolate, but Harry was used to his pleas being ignored and could easily tune him out.

For the next few days, Harry focused on Sephiroth attempting to plead, bargain, beg, anything short of actually stealing back the chocolate that Harry had hidden from him, instead of listening to the rumors and whispers about Sirius Black that had spread through the school like a wildfire. If he listened for too long then the guilt began to eat at him once again, and he feared that if he listened too long then he would do something stupid, like seeking out Black in order to protect everyone else. Sephiroth's antics kept him focused on the present and gave him something to look forward to each day and Wood's insane training schedule left him too worn out at night for nightmares or 'what-ifs,' and the chaos was more manageable with their unwitting help.

By Thursday, Harry took pity on his sugar obsessed friend and made a deal to give the other one piece of chocolate every other day, so long as he did not stockpile the chocolate and get on a sugar high again. Hermione and Ron had watched in poorly concealed horror as Sephiroth spun Harry around in a hug and greedily took the offered chocolate bar.

* * *

Harry left Defense Class later that week very confused. Ron was still complaining that Snape had been completely unfair in assigning him a detention for only speaking the truth, and Harry agreed Snape had been unfair, but he also knew that the man rarely did anything without a reason-well other than hating Harry and taking points from Gryffindor that is. So he wondered why Snape felt it so important for them to know how to identify and _kill_ a werewolf. He would have to tell Sephiroth about his musings, the slightly older boy was a much more logical thinker than Harry and he did not always stick to the facts from books like Hermione did.

He was also somewhat worried for Professor Lupin's health, but only so that Ron would get out of detention sometime before sixth year. Harry himself found it somewhat strange that a grown man continued to try to befriend a thirteen year old student. He had politely turned down the man's early invitations to tea, but the man continued to try and find reasons to get him alone, it was creepy and being around the man set off all of Harry's self-preservation instincts. However the man was the best Defense teacher they had in three years, so Harry would just make sure that he was never alone with the man if he could help it.

* * *

The morning of the first Quidditch match of the season found Harry awake at a ridiculous hour, sitting in front of the Common Room with Crookshanks sitting in his lap, feeling like the villain that he had once heard Dudley describe from some old movie as he plotted how to exorcise a certain annoying poltergeist.

By the time breakfast rolled around, Harry was slightly less murderous and slightly more anxious about the upcoming match and ever increasing storm. His small stature might be good for being a Seeker on a normal basis, but this storm was going to blow him all over the field. He was doing better than Oliver Wood though, who looked like he was going to throw up in the porridge Katie set in front of him. He did not understand how Oliver and Ron could stand being that fanatic over a game, sure Harry enjoyed winning; but he enjoyed flying more than the actual game itself.

Out on the field, time became meaningless as the rain poured down harder and harder, lightning lit up the sky in brief flashes, and the times between grew darker. If the game had ended, Harry was not sure if he would have even noticed. He felt completely alone in the swirling tempest that the field was becoming.

A flash of lightning, seemingly brighter than the rest briefly lit up the stands and showed the outline of a giant dark dog standing on the top and startled Harry into dropping several feet on his broom, later Harry would think back on that moment and how fortunate he was that he was not flying as high as he had been previously. The drop also allowed Harry to _finally_ catch site of the golden Snitch, and the Hufflepuff Seeker Cedrid Diggory streaking straight for it. Harry flattened himself against his broom to go as fast as he could while battling the gusting winds.

Both Seekers were reaching for the Snitch when the sound of the storm became muted in his ears. Cold seeped into his bones and dread filled the pit of his stomach. His eyes were drawn to the grassy field of the pitch, or what should have been the grassy field. Instead it was a swirling, seething mass of black twisting figures, empty hoods turned upward as though watching the flying players. Suddenly the mass broke apart into individual creatures and surged upward into the sky.

Harry could feel his numb fingers slipping from his broom handle as his vision began to tunnel and a woman's voice, screaming in pain and fear rang in his ears.

"_**Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"**_

"_**Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside, now…"**_

"_**Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-"**_

_**Numbing, swirling white mist was filling Harry's bran...What was he doing? Why was he flying? He needed to help her… She was going to die...She was goingn to be murdered….**_

_**He was falling, falling through the icy mist.**_

"_**Not Harry! Please…have mercy...have mercy…."**_

_**A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was screaming, **_a flash of green cut across his vision, _**and Harry knew no more.**_

Harry could smell disinfectant and fresh linens when next he was aware and could hear voices all around him, discussing a fall and luck. Based on that information and the bruises he could feel on his arms, he guessed that he fell off his broom when the Dementors appeared on the field. It was bad enough when the entire school _heard_ about him fainting on the train from the searching Dementor, but to have the entire school _see _him faint from a Dementor was a hundred times worse. He cringed and realized that there was a hand on his wrist when the fingers tightened around his pulse point.

Sighing, he opened his eyes and blinked the blurriness from his eyes as a pale hand held his glasses over his face. Harry accepted the glasses and the fuzzy shapes resolved into the entire Quidditch team standing on the right side of his hospital bed and Sephiroth, Hermione, and Ron sitting on his left side. Sephiroth was the one clutching his wrist and Harry took comfort from the contact, instead of feeling constrained like he normally would.

"Why does Oliver look like he should be in this bed instead of me?" Harry croaked looking at the girls huddled at the foot of his bed and the twins propping up a distraught Oliver between them closer to the head of the bed. The twins shared a look over the Captain's head before turning back to Harry. Fred started and George picked up where his twin left off.

"Well, you see…"

"...our illustrious Captain…"

"...is simply upset…"

"**That you got yourself hurt.**"

Harry raised an eyebrow and _looked_ at the twins, conveying his disbelief without words.

Sheepishly the twins began again.

"Okay, so, Wood is upset because…"

"...when you fell off your broom…"

"...you missed the Snitch…"

"...and Cedric caught it…"

"**...meaning that Hufflepuff won the game."**

Once again Harry was struck by the thought that he could not understand how Oliver and others could obsess so much over a game. Oliver was a seventh year and the Captain of the team, he should be more concerned about his players, not whether they win, right. Or was Harry only important to Oliver as long as he caught the Snitch and won the game for their team? Sephiroth's fingers tightened again on his wrist and Harry looked up into green eyes. Warmth came back into his body as he saw the acceptance and true concern in those eyes. He might simply be a tool to the majority of the Wizarding World, but there were people who cared about him.

The team stayed for several more minutes, attempting to cheer Harry up by talking about what the team would need to do in order to still win the Quidditch Cup. Harry tuned out most of the conversation, humming affirmative noises at appropriate parts, instead focusing on Sephiroth's fingers as they rubbed his wrist and the concern showing on Hermione and Ron's faces. Harry had nothing against the twins, or the Quidditch Team, but talking about the game was not what he wanted at the moment.

Finally Madam Pomfrey chased the team out of the Medical Wing, leaving Harry alone with his friends. Hermione moved from the bed next to his and sat beside Sephiroth on Harry's left side. Ron stood behind her watching Harry closely.

Hermione laid her hand over his clenched one, under where Sephiroth was still gripping his wrist, "Harry are you sure you're alright? Professor Dumbledore was so angry when the Dementors appeared on the field, when we saw you fall he got even madder. He was shooting this white mist from his wand toward them but nothing was happening. Right before you fell into the mass of Dementors, this green light came and blinded everyone. When it cleared the Dementors were gone and you were lying on the pitch."

"It was the same light as on the train but like a thousand times brighter," interjected Ron, rushing as he spoke over Hermione, who turned a glare on the excitable boy. Ron flushed but did not look repentant for what he had done.

Hoping to stave off an argument, and not wanting to mention the screaming that he had heard, Harry looked around the Wing for something else they could talk about and noticed something missing from the room.

"Where is my Nimbus? I don't see it in here. Did the twins take it back to the room?"

Hermione and Sephiroth both refused to look at Harry while Ron shifted nervously on his feet. Finally, the redhead spoke up when the other two refused, "When you fell off, a gust of wind must have caught it before it could fall to the ground. Sorry mate, but," he held out some wood fragments, "it blew into the Whomping Willow."

Harry winced and felt sorry for his poor broom, nothing deserved to tangle with that monster.

* * *

Hours later, Harry laid in his hospital bed unable to sleep. He unclenched his fist and looked at the black feathers clutched within.

* * *

**A.N.- So I did not realize that I had forgotten to put a hyper Sephiroth in the last chapter until a reviewer mentioned it. That was the entire point of mentioning Honeydukes and I'm not really sure what happened there, but I am happy with how it turned out in this chapter. And yes Aerith keeps all sweets locked away in the house and all the boys are on a 'one hot chocolate a day' rule because can you imagine Loz, Yazoo, Kadaj, and **_**Sephiroth**_** on a sugar high all at the same time, yeah no, the world would end in fire and madness. Madness I tell you!**

**And no, I'm not implying anything bad about Lupin, he is one of my all time favorite characters in the series; however Harry does have some pretty good instincts-when he chooses to listen to them-and I think he would have noticed the more animalistic parts of Lupin's character, at least that's what I'm going with here.**

**Reviews:**

**APridefulSin: I have to admit that when the first previews for the remake came out, I went and bought a Playstation just to get that game, but it was worth it. Everyone keeps asking what will happen next and I feel bad about not revealing much more than snippets and hints, but I don't want to make a big 'reveal' too soon and it feel rushed and ruin the flow of the story, it's a careful tightrope. Dinners at my family are interesting because forks can become weapons when people get too annoying, no one ever **_**actually**_** gets stabbed, but it can get close.**

**Juxshoa: OMG how did I forget that! It was the entire point of including Honeydukes...crap. Thanks for the reminder, but I'm glad you know Sephiroth well enough to realize where I was headed. I guess the first part of this chapter is dedicated to you for reminding me about what I forgot to include.**

**The Real Hell Fire: -.-**

**Buterflypuss: I feel accomplished when your review comes across my screen because I feel you are sincere with your praise.**

**Scififan33: Mind reader.**


	10. Chapter 10

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Ten: Whispers**

**A.N.-There is an instance of cutting in this chapter, but it is not true cutting. Simply claiming a virgin blade, however skip the second section if you think that might be a problem for you.**

By the time Madam Pomfrey let Harry out of the infirmary, he was beyond stir crazy and fairly certain he was developing an ulcer from worrying about a) how long the whispers would follow him _this_ time, and b) whether the Ministry really would send him back to the Dursley's 'for his own safety.' From what Mr. Weasley had told him back on September first, Harry guessed that the Minister would prefer if Harry stayed in the Wizarding World, and would have preferred for him to be there over the summer; but Dumbledore had been adamant since First Year that Harry was safest with his Aunt and the Blood Wards. The Headmaster was held in such high esteem by all of the Wizarding World that he was sure his protests would fall on deaf ears.

Fortunately for his continued health, and quick release from the Hospital Wing, Harry only had the nighttime hours, when his friends were not present to distract him, to allow these thoughts to run around in circles in his head. No matter how many times he attempted to convince himself that it was a baseless fear, the more pragmatic and Slytherin side of his personality would remind him that 'if something could go wrong, it would go wrong' when it involved his life.

Monday morning, Harry drug his feet as he left the Hospital Wing and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast, the simultaneous feelings of elation at being released and worry about how the student body would react working his stomach up into tight knots. He had just made up his mind to skip breakfast and go wait by the door of his first class of the day, when a pale, black-clad arm linked with his and gave him no choice about going to breakfast. Harry had to roll his eyes as Sephiroth towed him along to the Great Hall and made him take a seat at the Ravenclaw table. He had to admit that Sephiroth's more…physical methods of being a mother hen were more effective than Hermione's constant nagging, and his exasperation at being man-handled had distracted him from the initial reactions of the other students.

By the time Harry and Sephiroth had finished their silent battle of wills over what Harry would eat for breakfast-Harry had won with his porridge, but Sephiroth had won with bacon, toast, and _two_ links of sausage-the majority of the school had received their 'Potter News' fix and returned to their breakfast or last minute homework finishing. The only person still making a fuss was Draco Malfoy over at the Slytherin table who was dramatically swooning into Crabbe's arms, to the great amusement of the rest of the Slytherin table. A quick glance at a thoroughly unamused Sephiroth caused Harry to smirk and he could not resist getting a jab in at Malfoy.

"Oh Malfoy," he made sure his voice would carry over the hushed morning conversations to all corners of the room, "I'm sure you're glad that your injury kept Slytherin from playing the other day, after all it wouldn't do to have you rehurt your arm right after it got fixed."

Grey eyes narrowed as Draco looked in Harry's direction, "What are you talking about Potter?"

"Well," Harry held his fork to his mouth in false contemplation, "I just mean that you're so good at 'fainting' that you must have gotten practice _somewhere_." He held up his fork as though he had just gotten a brilliant idea, "Maybe we should start a club, though I wonder what we should name it." Harry tapped his fork against his mouth and watched as Draco spluttered and turned red. He felt quite accomplished with himself when he heard a few 'Claws snorting into their books and a few Snakes hiding unwilling smirks behind hands and napkins at the blonds' expense. Sephiroth's shoulders were shaking beside him in suppressed laughter, and when he turned around he saw Ron gaping at him and Hermione shaking her head in fondness.

Feeling much better about having been forced into the Great Hall, and admitting to himself that his worries in the Hospital Wing really were for nothing, Harry quite contentedly turned back to his porridge and shot a glare at a steadily eating Sephiroth, when he noticed that he now had three sausages on his plate.

Harry and Sephiroth were finishing eating-Harry ignoring the extra sausage on his plate and Sephiroth eyeing it with narrowed eyes- when the Fair's giant raven, Odin, dropped a package at Harry's spot and landed on Sephiroth's shoulder. Sephiroth was looking at the package with one eyebrow raised while he fed Odin a piece of bacon, obviously as surprised by the delivery as Harry. The card attached to the box had Harry's name scrawled on it, so he quickly opened it, shuffling over so that Sephiroth could read it at the same time.

_**DO NOT OPEN THE PACKAGE IN THE GREAT HALL!**_

Sephiroth scoffed and grabbed the package, slipping it into Harry's bag as the other continued reading.

_Dear Harry, _

Definitely Aerith's script now, much neater and more polite than the previous writing.

_Sephiroth wrote us about what happened at the Quidditch game. He also told us about the train in the beginning of the year. We realize that the dementors are supposedly there to guard the school, but that does no good if the students are not guarded from them. Since Zack started teaching you how to handle a blade over the summer, we decided to send you a very special one that Sephiroth can continue to teach you how to use. The blade is newly forged and has certain properties that will help you out. When you open the package, the first thing that you will need to do is allow the blade to nick your skin so that you bleed on the blade. After that the blade will belong to you and only you, and you will be able to summon it wherever you are. It is also layered with spells to keep it always sharp and allow it to be used similar to a wand. It will also help block lower level spells from hitting you. Hopefully this will help, both of you be careful and we expect to see you at Christmas._

_Love,_

_Aerith and Zack, _

_Yazoo, Kadaj, and Loz_

Harry clutched the letter tight to his chest and realized that Sephiroth was watching him with wary eyes, probably concerned with how Harry would react to him having told his parents what was going on. Normally, Harry would have been more than a bit annoyed that people he should be able to trust were talking about him behind his back, but Aerith and Zack had not just sent words of pity or attempted to placate Harry in any way, they had sent him something with which he could protect himself. _They_ had attempted to find a solution, not just believed that Harry, a thirteen year old wizard with only twenty months experience in the Wizarding world, should know what to do.

"Thank you," whispered Harry, as he bumped his shoulder against Sephiroth's and ran a reverent hand over the package stowed safely in his bag.

* * *

That night, Harry followed Sephiroth back to the Ravenclaw dormitory. Safely ensconced in Sephiroth's room, Harry pulled out the package and was finally able to open it. From pommel, a word Harry learned as Sephiroth explained the blade's components to him, was thirteen inches in length. The handle was made from dark wood, polished till it shone and inlaid with a blue and a purple circle. The end cap was carved in the likeness of a striking snake and had a pink tinge to it. The blade itself was a bright silver, barely the width of three of his fingers, but razor sharp along both sides, ending in a wicked point.

Harry had been about to run the blade across his palm when Sephiroth stopped him.

"Don't run the blade across your palm. It hurts and bleeds a lot because you irritate the scab while it's trying to heal. Here," he pulled up Harry's sleeve on his left arm and pointed to a spot about an inch below his elbow, "this spot will still sting, but it will be less likely to be irritated by movement and will be easier to keep bandaged."

Harry nodded his head and laid the blade carefully on his arm, hesitating when Sephiroth again spoke up, "Don't push too hard, you only need a little blood to seal the bond and the blade is sharp."

Cautiously, Harry ran the blade across his arm, the pressure just enough to cause a small slice, barely more than a paper cut, to open up across his arm. Quickly he ran the flat of the blade over the trickle of blood and watched in fascination as the blade absorbed the blood until nothing remained while Sephiroth efficiently disinfected and wrapped the small cut.

The two boys spent the rest of the evening before curfew, with Harry practicing how to summon the blade and Sephiroth refreshing his memory on the proper way to hold and attack with a dagger.

* * *

Harry had been thinking hard the last few days about what he heard every time a dementor got close to him. Hours of contemplation had led him to the, most likely correct, assumption, that the woman he heard screaming and pleading was his mother on the night that she died. Harry had thought about telling Hermione and Ron, but he knew that Ron would try to say something reassuring and stick his foot in his mouth, and Hermione would look at him with pity and then insist that he go tell a teacher. Harry was unsure what kind of help a teacher could offer him in this situation, since they were not even able to keep the things away from the Quidditch game; but he did know that he did not want to have to tell more people who would then gossip about it to others. If he told one teacher, then that teacher would tell the others, and they would all start giving him those pitying looks, which would tell the more observant students that something new had happened to the Harry Potter. Harry did not want that kind of attention, no thank you. So Hermione and Ron were out as people he could talk about this with, which left only Sephiroth as a person he could talk to.

Harry and Sephiroth had started meeting every other day in the abandoned classroom on the ground floor that they had claimed as their own private area so that Harry could practice with his new blade. Today was not one of the afternoons when they usually met, but Harry knew that Sephiroth would not mind meeting there before dinner to discuss what was on Harry's mind.

That thought in mind, Harry hurried down the corridors from Potions to be sure that he caught the Ravenclaws as they left Defense Against the Dark Arts, let the Slytherins think that he was running from a juvenilely annoying Draco if they wanted. Harry had been so preoccupied with his thoughts, that he had barely noticed Draco's resumed attempts to rile Harry up until Ron had thrown a crocodile heart at him. Hurrying to the Defense Classroom also allowed Harry to skip the inevitable argument about how unfair Snape was to give Ron a detention, the only unfair part about the detention was that Draco did not receive the punishment as well for disrupting the class. Having grown up with Dudley, and being in all the same classes as the obese bully, Harry was used to others not being punished for picking on him.

Harry skid around a corner and almost ran into a muttering Sephiroth, who was apparently so caught up in his thought that he did not notice the other there.

" Everyone one should….never follow a lantern….no knife...Tonberry….death…"

Harry listened to the mutters and wondered what new creature Professor Lupin had for them to study today, it had to be good if Sephiroth's half articulated sentence was anything to go on. Acid green eyes widened in slight shock when their owner looked up and realized that Harry was waiting directly in front of him, eyebrow raised in amusement. Sephiroth huffed and waited for Harry to speak, normally they did not see each other between classes, except for Ancient Runes that they shared with Hermione.

"Can we speak later, before dinner?" whispered Harry, conscious of the rapidly approaching group of Gryffindors. Sephiroth glanced over Harry's shoulder at the boisterous group, before giving a sharp nod and hastening off to his next class.

Harry allowed the tide to Gryffindors to carry him into the returned Lupin's classroom, who looked only somewhat better for having been sick, and only partially listened to the complaints of his fellow students for Professor Snape's homework assignment and Professor Lupin's explanation of what Hinkypunks were; more interested in planning out what he was going to say later to Sephiroth.

* * *

Later, found Sephiroth perched on a desktop watching a nervously pacing Harry. Harry knew he was silly to be nervous about telling Seph about hearing his mother whenever dementors were around, after all the other boy was one of the only people to know the majority of what happened in the Dursley house. But there was something even more...intimate...about telling someone that the only memory he had of his parents was the sound of his mother pleading for his life. With a shuddering breath, Harry closed his eyes and launched into his explanation. He started on the train and the woman screaming that he had heard and continued on telling about the conversation that he had experienced this last time around. Finally he whispered the revelation that it was his mother's final moments that he remembered when a dementor got too close to him. The room fell silent after that bombshell, as though the castle herself did not dare interrupt what was taking place.

Harry's eyes snapped open as a cool hand landed on his cheek and he was caught by Sephiroth's glowing green eyes. His tense shoulders relaxed when he read understanding in their green depths and not pity. After a moment of staring at each other's eyes, the pale hand slid down his cheek and picked up his hand, pulling him to sit on the desk beside Sephiroth. Harry huddled on the desk, his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting on the other boy's shoulder, as Sephiroth laid his arm across Harry's hunched shoulders.

Together the two sat in silence for several long moments, before Sephiroth's quiet timber broke the quiet, "I know it does not feel like a good thing...but at least you have a memory of your mother's voice, I…"

"It is not such a good thing that Harry remembers his parent's death," interrupted the quiet tones of an adult. Harry and Sephiroth both jumped off the desk at the same time, Sephiroth between Harry and the intruder, his hand partially extended as if to call forth a blade; and Harry with his dominant hand hidden behind Sephiroth's back, magic already sparking around his fingertips, waiting for him to call forth his blade.

Standing in the doorway was a slightly sheepish Professor Lupin, and Harry cursed silently in his mind that the man had been able to sneak up on them. Even though the man was never anything more than exceedingly nice, Harry still felt every instinct in his body crying predator when the Professor was close. He was surprised to note that instead of relaxing at the realization of who had snuck up on them, Sephiroth instead became even tenser, using his right arm to push Harry even more behind his body.

The Professor's oddly yellow eyes followed the subtle movement and he carefully placed both hands in front of himself palm up. Neither boy moved however, preferring to have the Professor explain what he was doing there without giving him any additional information.

The Professor huffed and quirked a small smile in the direction of the two boys, who returned his look with suspicious ones of their own.

"I was on my way to the Great Hall when I heard talking in here. I came to make sure that it was not any students getting up to mischief. I managed to hear the last part of your conversation and I have to say Mr. Crescent-Fair that it is not exactly a good thing that Har...Mr. Potter can hear his parent's death when the dementors are close." He paused, as if waiting for one of them to answer like this was a lecture in his class. When neither boy made a sound, he continued, "dementors are drawn to those with great tragedy in their life, the stronger the better. Since Mr. Potter is capable of remembering his parent's death it means that the dementors are more likely to seek him out, wanting to feast on his suffering."

Harry edged out from behind Sephiroth, being sure to keep his knife hand blocked from the Professor's view by Sephiroth's body, "If the dementors are going to be drawn to me then is there something that will block me from them? Some spell or potion or something that will keep them away?"

Lupin's eyes got sharper at Harry's question, that small smile growing a little wider, "There is a spell that will protect against dementors; however it is a very complicated bit of magic and will require quite a bit of practice for you to be able to learn it. I would be able to teach you though, say on Friday evenings after dinner?"

Harry tilted his head to look at Sephiroth out of the corner of his eye. Those piercing green eyes cut to him quickly before returning to watch the adult.

Harry took a deep breath and turned back to the Professor, "It's a nice offer Professor, do you mind if I think it over before I give you an answer?"

"Of course Har..Mr. Potter, take as much time as you need." The Professor opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if there was something else he wanted to say, but in the end he simply smiled again at the two boys and left the room.

Harry collapsed against Sephiroth's back, burying his head against the space between the other's shoulder blades, knocking the ever present braid out of the way in the process. He felt the tension slowly leech from the silverette's muscles as he growled out a quiet curse in Japanese.

"We're going to need to find a new place to practice. This classroom is too close to the Great Hall."

* * *

The days following the nerve-wracking confrontation with Professor Lupin passed quickly. Harry had shown Sephiroth the magical map that Fred and George had given him back in September, and together the two boys managed to locate an abandoned room on the seventh floor.

Next to the door was the picture of a young man in a set of emerald green robes with long black hair tied back at the nape of his neck who said his name was Fen. Curled around the man's waist, with its head resting on his shoulder was a black snake that shimmered with rainbow colors like an oil spill when the sunlight hit it. When Harry had explained what the two were doing there, the man had taught them how to enchant a small picture frame to allow the snake, Groot, and only him to access it so that he could act as a warning system.

Sephiroth still took to levitating a desk in front of the door every time that they were practicing, but between that precaution and Groot and Fen, Harry felt confident that people would have a hard time sneaking up on them here.

Oliver Wood had also managed to become even more fanatical in having the team practice. Harry was fairly certain that Oliver would have kept them flying plays from the last class of the day until curfew if the Weasley Twins had not taken it upon themselves to ensure that practice stopped in time for dinner each night. On the few times Fred and George had been unsuccessful, Sephiroth, who had taken to working on his homework in the stands while Harry practiced, would simply call Harry down from the air and walk off with him, ignoring all of Wood's orders to return his Seeker to him. While flying on the old school broom was annoying and took a majority of Harry's concentration to make sure that he was not bucked from the stupid thing, watching the stand-offs between Oliver and the Twins and Oliver and Sephiroth were well worth it.

By the time December was rolling to close, Harry was no closer to making a decision regarding Lupin's offer. Sephiroth's oh so helpful, "it's your choice," when he had asked for advice had led to a pillow in the face and a pouting Harry.

The night before the last Saturday of term, and the final Hogsmeade weekend before students left for the holiday. Harry realized that he had forgotten to tell Hermione and Ron that he was leaving for the holiday to spend the break with Sephiroth and his family, not that anyone knew that was where he was going to be. When Professor McGonagall had expressed concern for him leaving the safety of Hogwarts, Harry had mumbled something about blood wards and quickly found an excuse to leave the conversation. She had not called him back for a second conversation, so he assumed that Professor McGonagall believed that he would be spending the holiday at the Dursley's.

Hermione had been shocked when Harry sheepishly informed them that he would be returning to Privet Drive for the holidays, but Ron had exploded.

"You're only returning to _that place_ because HE is going home aren't you. You always disappear with him and you've stopped talking to us. I hope whatever adventure you're having with him is worth losing your real friends for!"

The indignant redhead had stomped up to the dorm room after his rant. A shocked and pale Harry had turned to Hermione to see her looking at him with disappointment, "I know that you aren't purposely blocking us out Harry, but it does feel like you are replacing us."

With that Hermione left Harry as she too went up to her room. Harry himself was very confused, other than spending an hour or two every other evening practicing knife work with Sephiroth, he thought that he had been doing a good job of spending time with all of his friends. All of his classes were with Ron and Hermione, with only Ancient Runes not having Ron in it. All four had started meeting in the library to study and complete homework, and Harry usually spent the hour or two before curfew playing Exploding Snap or Chess with Ron when he was not worn out from Quidditch Practice.

Going up to the room, Harry found Ron's curtains drawn tight. With a sigh, Harry settled down in his own bed deciding that if Ron did not want to talk to him tomorrow then he would give him the Christmas holiday to cool off.

* * *

The next morning Ron had already left for breakfast before Harry got up, so the bespectacled teen shrugged and collected his money pouch and warm winter cloak before heading to meet Sephiroth at breakfast. Sephiroth had growled at Harry for not having a scarf and gloves and insisted that they stop at Gladrags first to get Harry a scarf, gloves, and a good hat.

From there they had wandered through the shops collecting Christmas presents for everyone. For Aerith, Harry had gotten a selection of Mundane looking plants that could be used in potion making. For Zack Harry had found a goofy knit cap with pointed ears and bright purple tassels on it-Sephiroth had laughing said Zack would love it. The triplets each would receive a selection of Honeyduke's finest chocolate. Hermione would get a book explaining the differences between the magical education of the five great magical schools. Ron had been hard to find something good for until the shopkeeper had mentioned that he had sold jerseys in team colors. Harry had quickly bought three of the shirts in the Chudley Cannon colors, knowing that Ron would like them.

While Sephiroth was distracted in Honeydukes, with strict instructions that he had to turn all bought chocolate over to Harry, he had hurried back to Gladrags to purchase a bracelet that he had seen. The bracelet was wide with raised wave like patterns on it that curled into two circle depressions on the bottom part of the piece. The metal was a dark silver color that the shopkeeper called Damascus Steel because of the ripple pattern worked into the metal itself before it was forged into the bracelet. Harry thought it was perfect and carefully hid it in his inner robe pocket before going to pull a protesting Sephiroth from his version of Nirvana.

After confiscating all chocolate, Harry decided to placate a strongly pouting Sephiroth by offering to buy him a hot chocolate at the Three Broomsticks. They arrived to find the [lace full of Hogwarts students finished with their Christmas shopping and looking to warm up after time spent in the cold, snow lined streets. Harry spotted Hermione and Ron seated at a table, but when Ron very purposely turned his back on the pair, he decided that it would be better to still give the redhead his space. So with a small wave at Hermione, who seemed to be over her disappointment enough to wave back, Harry and Sephiroth headed to a booth shadowed by one of the giant trees that decorated the place.

Sephiroth had just received his much anticipated hot chocolate when a group of teachers and a balding man with a bowler hat clutched in his hands, that Harry heard called Minister Fudge, settled into the booth behind Harry. He had tuned out the adults conversation as he quietly poked at a sleepily content Sephiroth, who continued to look more and more like a cat the longer they sat in the warm room sipping hot chocolate until Madam Rosmerta's voice caught his attention.

"_**...Sirius Black and James Potter!"**_

"_**Precisely," said Professor McGonagall, "Black and Potter. Ring leaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course-exceptionally bright, in fact-but I don't think we've ever had such a pari of troublemakers-"**_

"_**I dunno," chuckled Hagrid. "Gred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."**_

"_**You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!" chimed in Professor Flitwick. "Inseparable!"**_

"_**Of course they were," said Fudge. "Potter trustd Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him."**_

"_**Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Wh?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.**_

"_**Worse even than that, m'dear…" Fudge dropped his voice and **_Harry lost the flow of conversation as the adults all dropped into clandestine whispers and a group of seventh years across the room burst into a rowdy rendition of 'God Bless Ye Merry People.' Suddenly Hagrid yelled loud enough to gain the attention of many of the bar patrons.

"_**I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!"**_

"_**Hagrid, please!" said Professor McGonagall. "Keep your voice down!"**_

"_**How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'! An' then he says, 'Give Harry to me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him-'Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says."**_

Harry again lost the conversation as the seventh years moved on to a butchered version of 'We Three Kings.' Minister Fudge's voice finally rose above the noise, _**'There now, MInerva." Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses-muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later-told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pttigrew to smithereens…"**_

"_**You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the headmaster, we'd better head back up to the castle," said Professor McGonagall.**_

Harry shared a shocked look with a thoughtful Sephiroth, who had managed to steal Harry's hot chocolate while he was not paying attention. Harry had a lot to think about, and he was going to have to look into getting information for himself, people always left out the important stuff while trying to _protect_ him. Right now though he was more focused on wrestling his mug from a frantic Sephiroth.

* * *

**A.N.- I feel Murphy's Law really applies to Harry's life, because if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. (Especially when semi-sadistic writers are in charge). I like knives and the blade I describe for Harry is very similar to a dagger I own except mine has a faux marble handle and an eagle on the end cap. Also I have stabbed myself in the thumb with my K-bar and hand wounds take forever and a day to heal, plus they like to get infected. **

**My area is still under quarantine and in the past two weeks four tornadoes have passed within 100 miles of where I live, literally the next two towns over, one to the west and one to the north have been hit, and one touched partially down in our area. As I'm typing this another storm is blowing in and I'm wondering what it will bring.**

**JOB! I need some ideas for what to name Harry's blade, please leave any suggestions in the reviews and I'll pick one. Thank you!**

**Reviews:**

**buterflypuss: Thank you!**

**Juxshoa: Glad you liked the sugar high scene and the little hints of things to come that I've been dropping.**

**Enjali: Hopefully soon we'll begin to see who knows what. (evil little laugh)**


	11. Chapter 11

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Eleven: Names and Gifts**

The morning of Christmas holidays dawned bright and chilly, with a new layer of snow sparkling fresh upon the grounds. Harry was up early making sure that the new leather bag that Aerith had sent him a week earlier had everything packed that he would need for the two week break. The bag was circular in design made of dark leather with paler stitching and a drawstring top that tied closed. On the front of the bag, opposite the single strap, was Harry's favorite part of the whole bag, an engraving of a snake wrapped around a lion paw print.

After one more, quick run through of his trunk, Harry made sure everything was locked up and looked disappointingly at Ron's bed that was empty and had been since Harry got up. With a sigh, he wandered down the staircase ready to get on the Hogwarts' Express and forget about the insanity that always seemed to follow him around at Hogwarts. He paused at the bottom of the staircase and blinked in surprise to see Ron and Hermione sitting in front of the Common Room fire whispering furiously to each other as other students milled around waiting for it to be time to leave.

Ducking his head, Harry waited until a sixth year student came down the stairs dragging his trunk and grumbling curses under his breath and attempted to use him as a shield to escape out the portrait.

"Harry," Hermione's voice rang out and caused him to cringe, freezing where he had been caught.

Hermione rushed up and grabbed his wrist with both hands carefully tugging Harry over to where Ron was sitting and pushed him down in between them. Harry clutched his bag to his chest and stared into the fire, refusing to look at his friends. He could _feel_ them silently communicating behind his head, but he remained stubbornly watching the flickering flames.

Finally, Ron cleared his throat and sheepishly began to talk, "Harry...I'm...I'm sorry."

Harry twisted around so fast he could swear his neck cracked and gaped at a furiously blushing Ron.

The redhead blushed harder, rubbing his nose, "I shouldn't have yelled at you the other day, I...ummm…" He trailed off, looking off to the side.

Hermione huffed on Harry's other side and picked up in a furious whisper where Ron had left off, "What Ron _means_ is that he knows you're not replacing us with Sephiroth and you're not having any _adventures_ without us."

"Yeah, what she said," Ron nodded his head, a pleased smile curling his lips.

Harry nodded, but didn't say anything, feeling that this conversation was not finished yet. His suspicions were confirmed when after a moment of silence, Hermione and Ron exchanged nervous glances and Ron waved his hand to get Hermione to talk.

With a fortifying breath, Hermione started as Harry felt himself tense, "Harry, yesterday, at The Three Broomsticks, we overheard some of the teachers and the Minister of Magic talking about…" she exchanged another look with Ron, "...about Sirius Black and how he...ummm…"

"I know." It was Hermione and Ron's turns to be shocked, "I know he's after me...I've known since the train ride at the beginning of the year."

Harry watched out of the corner of his eye as Ron swelled up in anger, before Hermione reached around Harry's back to slap Ron in the back of the head.

"Harry, why didn't you tell us?" Hermione asked, her voice gentle and coaxing-like _Harry_ was the one who needed calming and like _ Harry _ was in the wrong for not telling her and Ron every tiny detail of his life. And suddenly Harry _was_ angry, angry at the fact that everyone in his life felt the need to know every part of his life so that _they_ could make the decisions that affected his life.

He pushed himself to his feet, roughly dislodging the hand that was laying on his arm, not even taking the time to see whose it was, "I didn't _tell_ you because it didn't affect you. It's a belief and so far NO ONE has offered any proof one way or the other. So kindly BUTT OUT."

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Harry rushed out of the Common Room, ignoring the shocked looks on his friends' faces and the curious glances of the others in the Room.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Harry was still silently seething as he paced in the Main Hallway. He was not sure what look was on his face, but so far no one had attempted to approach him and had left him to his brooding in peace. He caught a glimpse of silver out of the corner of his eye before arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind and the weight of a body settled against him. Long, silver strands tickled his nose as a head settled on his shoulder. Even craning his neck as far to the left as he could, the only thing Harry could see was a sea of shimmering silver that extended down to the floor in light waves.

"Mmghmgh mghmemeh," Harry felt the tension and anger draining from his body as he listened to Sephiroth mumble nonsense from where he was buried against Harry's shoulder.

"What is wrong with you? I know you're not a morning person but this is a little excessive." The mumbles cut off and Harry watched as those thin fingers twitched against his collar bone. He smirked as he put together the small clues, "Did you have more chocolate that you didn't give to me last night?"

Sephiroth stiffened against Harry's back before abruptly letting go and stalking off toward the crowd making its way to the waiting carriages. Harry laughed as the followed the embarrassed boy, shaking his head ruefully at his stubborn friend.

* * *

The ride back to London was quiet, Harry and Sephiroth had managed to claim a compartment to themselves. The silverette had taken advantage of the quiet to stretch out on one of the benches and sleep off the remains of another sugar-crash. Before he had succumbed to the embrace of unconsciousness, Harry had managed to piece together that upon returning from Hogsmeade that the Ravenclaws had thrown a pre-Christmas party-complete with hot chocolate and elf-made fudge. They had all gone to sleep late and Sephiroth even later as he was high on sugar. As he watched the other sprawled out on the bench, completely dead to the world, Harry wondered if this is what being hung-over felt like and if so, he was not sure that he wanted to experience it.

Arriving at the station, Harry kicked the base of the bench, having learned over the summer not to shake the other awake-Harry's reactions were extreme, but not as violent as Sephiroth's happened to be. He chuckled as bleary green eyes, slit open just enough to prevent the owner from running into any obstacles as they disembarked the train.

Only to be knocked to the ground as a silver blur collided with his chest. Harry blinked in shock at the stream of Japanese curses-one did not need to understand the language to understand that tone of voice-and semi-maniacal laughter that flew from the silver and black pile on the station floor. More laughter, one high and light and the other deeper but still cheery, drifted over the riot of sound, causing Harry to turn and see Zack and Yazoo standing together and watching the reunion taking place on the floor. Knowing that the cursing would be in a much different tone if it was Loz who had tackled Sephiroth in a flying hug, Harry was able to differentiate Kadaj from the tangled mess that Sephiroth's hair was becoming as the two grappled on the floor.

He carefully edged away as the laughter took on a more sinister tone and the curses cut off with a growl. Strong arms wrapped around his waist as another silver head buried itself against his chest and cut off his chance of escape. Harry was shocked and unsure what exactly to do until Yazoo peered upwards with one narrowed green eye and squeezed his arms tightly around Harry's middle, that jump started him into returning the unexpected hug. He must have done the correct thing since the head returned to being buried against his chest and the strangle-hold loosened.

A large hand landed on his head and Harry looked up into amused violet eyes. Zack laughed and ruffled his hair, causing him to scowl in annoyance, unwilling to release the hug and get squeezed again in order to fix his hair. He watched as the man swaggered, for there was no other way to describe that walk, over to the wrestling match on the floor. A moment of quiet contemplation and he lashed out with both hands, returning upright with a different silver head in each hand. With a laugh and a jerk of his head, Zack pushed the two toward the barrier ignoring their continued squabbling as Kadaj needled at his older brother and Sephiroth ignored him. Yazoo laughed and pulled Harry along with them.

* * *

Harry had been worried when they pulled into Privet Drive that some of his _family_ might see him, but Kadaj had apparently switched his attentions from Sephiroth, who was steadily ignoring everyone now, to Harry. As soon as they stopped in the driveway, Kadaj pulled Harry out of the car and up to the room he shared with his two brothers, bypassing Aerith who was already fussing over Sephiroth, and not allowing Harry any time out in the open to be spotted.

For how bad the day had begun, by the time Harry and Sephiroth were curled up in bed, which Sephiroth had not left until dinner time finally sleeping off the last traces of his sugar high, Harry was feeling much more enthusiastic about how this break was going to go.

* * *

Every morning Harry would get up early and join Aerith as she took care of the plants in her greenhouse. Once they finished watering and weeding, and occasionally repotting, Harry would go wash up while Aerith began fixing breakfast. From there it was Harry's responsibility to wake Sephiroth and make sure the sugar-deprived teen made it safely to the kitchen-sometimes made difficult by a sadistic Kadaj who would booby-trap the stairs on his own way to breakfast. The first four days of break had been especially interesting in the mornings since Aerith had banned Sephiroth from any and all sugar, even his morning hot chocolate. Kadaj had his taken away after the first morning when he had teased a grumpy Sephiroth, which had led to the introduction of the traps. Needless to say mornings were...entertaining, and Harry would never again look at that benign smile and think Aerith to be innocent, she could be ruthless when she wanted to be.

After breakfast, Zack would take all five boys out in the backyard and run through katas and weapons forms for a few hours. Harry had profusely thanked Zack for the dagger that he and Aerith had sent, prompting him to bring the dagger out so that the triplets could 'oh' and 'ah' over it. From there they had gotten even more off track as Kadaj had asked what Harry named the blade, leading to a very confusing and circuitous rant about the importance of naming a blade. Finally Yazoo had gotten tired of the talking and put Kadaj in a head-lock with his hand over his mouth. Yazoo might have been the thinnest of the three, but that did not stop his ability to hold a wildly struggling Kadaj and talk to Harry at the same time.

"What Otōto is trying to say, is that now that you have a claimed blade, you need to name it. If you don't name it then it's not completely claimed."

Harry raised an incredulous eyebrow and looked at a contentedly smiling Zack and an equally confused Sephiroth.

"When I got my blade it was already named, I was not aware that you could name them yourself." confessed Sephiroth.

Kadaj tripped Yazoo and spun around behind Sephiroth, the only available tangent since Loz had lost interest about the time Kadaj hit the five minute mark and so was not available to help protect him from a now furious Yazoo. Harry was having a hard time following the suggestions thrown out by the two as they chased each other in circles, but he did manage to piece together a few of their suggestions.

"Fang"

"Sting"

"Durendal"

"Kusanagi"

"Cunning Pride"

"Kotegiri," came Zack's voice as Yazoo managed to catch Kadaj in a flying tackle and they began rolling around in the snow. Harry sidestepped to avoid a flailing limb and caught it as Sephiroth perked up at the suggestion that Zack gave, more so than he had any of the others that the boys had given.

"Kotegiri," Harry rolled it around on his tongue, testing how it sounded, "I like it."

After practice and exercising, everyone would have a light lunch and they would break off into doing their own thing until dinner time. After dinner, everyone would gather in the sitting room and the family introduced Harry to card games and board games, Harry's favorite was one called 'Life' because it changed each time they played it. Sometimes after games, Aerith would read to the family from _The Hobbit_ until it was time for the boys to go to bed.

* * *

The only change to their routine came on Christmas morning when Harry and Sephiroth were woken before the sun came up as Kadaj launched himself at the sleeping duo. Harry groaned and buried his head under the pillows as Sephiroth pushed Kadaj off the bed and tried to strangle him with a throw blanket. Harry listened as heavy footsteps entered the room and Kadaj's arguments about it being Christmas morning were cut off by the slam of the door. Harry chuckled as Sephiroth threw himself back in the bed face first, muttering death threats against 'obnoxious little brothers."

At a more reasonable hour of the day, Harry and Sephiroth trooped downstairs to find a pouting Kadaj sitting on the couch staring sullenly at the presents under the tree while Zack sat in a armchair, drinking a cup of coffee and smiling-Harry would never know how the man was so perpetually happy, but some days he wondered if it was because Zack was not completely sane. By the time Yazoo, Loz, and Aerith joined them, Kadaj had transitioned from murderous pouting to sulking pouting.

Luckily hot chocolate and presents put everyone in a much better mood. Harry was somewhat surprised to receive gifts from his friends at Hogwarts, but he did make note of the look Sephiroth gave his Weasley sweater. He would be sure to write Mrs. Weasley at his first opportunity; Harry guessed that the motherly woman would not mind making a few extra sweaters.

He was more surprised to receive gifts from Zack and Aerith, the triplets, and Sephiroth since he had assumed that the bag was his Christmas present. Zack's smile had dimmed to a more melancholy thing and Aerith had hummed a sad little sound before embracing Harry in a hug and pushing him toward the gifts.

From Zack and Aerith he received a silver chain necklace with a small amulet inlaid with a red circular jewel and inscribed with odd runes. The triplets had gotten him a pair of earrings, silver dangling ones shaped like fangs and also etched with the same runic symbols. Aerith promised to take Harry to get his ears pierced before they returned to Hogwarts when he showed interest in actually wearing the jewelry.

Sephiroth's gift was the most startling. When Harry opened the package he promptly dropped it on the floor and scooped up his gift to Sephiroth, shoving it in the shocked boy's hands and motioning for him to quickly open it up. Together they opened their presents and everyone fell silent as they realized that Harry and Sephiroth had gotten each other the same present. Where Sephiroth's was polished steel, Harry's was darker, rougher looking. The Damascus steel pattern was more of a subtle undertone in Harry bangle while it stood out in sharp contrast on Sephiroth's silver one. The engraving on Sephiroth's was in the styling of waves, but Harry's looked like vines with small leaves etched in the metal. They were a beautiful pair and Harry could not stop the smile that spread across his lips, matched by an equally happy, if small, one on Sephiroth's lips.

Harry was happy that Zack distracted the other boys as Sephiroth carefully took Harry's right arm and almost reverently placed the bangle on it. Equally as carefully, Harry took the silver bangle and placed it on Sephiroth's left arm. They clasped forearms and Harry admired the contrast of the dark and light metal against each other.

* * *

The rest of the break passed quickly after Christmas Day was over. Three days after Christmas, Aerith took Harry and Sephiroth to a tattoo parlor in London to get Harry's ears pierced. He was not sure where Aerith got the official documentation that allowed her to sign for the piercings, but he was not going to argue with the results. The piercings itself did not hurt as much as Harry originally believed it would, one sharp pinch and the man was stepping away asking Harry to look at the small green jeweled studs that Harry would have to keep in for six months before he could change them out for whatever he wanted.

After that, not much in the way of excitement happened, they continued to follow their daily routine with only one new addition, each night Harry and Sephiroth would take off their bangles and place them side by side on the nightstand. A warm feeling would fill Harry's chest each night as he looked at the two bangles, one reflecting the light and the other appearing to absorb it.

Harry soon found himself with Sephiroth back on the train to Hogsmeade, this time dropped off by Aerith and Loz- Kadaj was grounded for biting Yazoo while they were wrestling and Yazoo was too interested in a new book to want to ride all the way to the station and back. He was not sure how things would go when he returned to Hogwarts, but as he watched Sephiroth admire the sunlight on his bangle and felt the dull pain of his new earrings, he knew that this break was one of the best Christmases he had ever had.

* * *

**A.N.-I promise not to have a sugar-high Sephiroth in every chapter, but the holidays just offer to many opportunities and I've survived through **_**several**_** Elementary Christmas Parties *shudder***

**If you are under eighteen then you need to have a parent/guardian's signature to get your ears pierced at a tattoo parlor, if you are under 16 (don't have a picture id) then you need a copy of your birth certificate to get your piercing. I have ten piercings so I know the drill pretty well.**

**Reviews:**

**Wingsong5555: Your review did not come through as posted on the chapter, but I did get it in my messages, confused me when I was trying to find your suggestion-which I liked by the way and you gave good reasoning for it, I might change the language and use it like some arcane ritual or something later on. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far and I hope I don't disappoint as we continue. **

**Juxshoa: I swear I've seen cats behave better than Sephiroth does around sugar. I liked your name suggestion for the blade. I always forget that there is a background for Sephiroth's sword based on real life. I took your suggestion and looked up the man and Kotegiri was one of the swords he made. I was originally going to use your name suggestion-and even had it typed up to use, but I did not like the way it flowed, so I looked up other blades credited to him and found that Kotegiri was originally a longer blade made by him that was then shortened down in length by a later wielder. Also the legend of Masamune vs. Muramasa might show up in later chapters.  
**

**buterflypuss: Thank you!**

**Enjali: I don't remember the movie much, I've been keeping the book beside me as I write and he knew something about Sirius in that, but he also fell into a semi-depressive state in the book; so I guess trying to keep Sephiroth away from sugar had a two-fold benefit of keeping him from doing anything stupid lol. **


	12. Chapter 12

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter 12: Flying and Family**

Harry was not expecting to get off the carriage and to instantly have someone grab his wrist and begin pulling him into the castle. When he was able to get his feet under him and orient himself, he was finally able to recognize that it was Ron who was rushing him through the castle and keeping up a steady stream of conversation.

"...been there since Christmas Morning. Hermione wouldn't let me open it, but I _know_ it's a broomstick. It doesn't have any markings, but I told Hermione that you probably finally ordered a new one. She still said that I couldn't open it though." This last was said with a pout as Ron pulled Harry through the portrait hole to Gryffindor Common Room. Harry used his distraction of attempting to maneuver the two of them through the small space to break free from the bruising grip on his wrist.

"What are you talking about Ron? Why did you drag me up here?"

Ron looked back at Harry, who was cradling his wrist against his chest, puzzled and tried to grab him again, "The broomstick, Merlin Harry weren't you listening? Though I think it a little rude that you didn't write me about ordering a new broomstick so that I could ride it over the break. It's a shame it stayed wrapped up on your bed."

Harry stepped back to dodge the reaching grasp and looked up equally puzzled to where his dorm room was. He caught sight of Hermione cautiously joining their group and wondered what happened between her and Ron over the break-first guess went to Crookshanks attempting to eat Scabbers again; but he was more interested in this surprise broomstick that had appeared over the break.

"I didn't order a new broom. I wonder who it came from?" Harry wandered up to their room, Hermione and Ron trailing behind him. On his bed was a package wrapped in brown paper and tied closed with twine. While the whole thing was wrapped, there was no mistaking the distinct shape of a broom.

Carefully he rolled the package across the bed, looking for any identifying marks. When the search came up empty, he cautiously opened the package, allowing the broomstick to roll onto the bed as he searched the inside of the package for any information.

When his search again turned up nothing, he turned to his two friends, and rolled his eye when he realized that Ron was more interested in exclaiming over the fact that the broom was a new Firebolt and how jealous Malfoy would be when he saw it. Hermione had her lips pursed, but Harry was unable to tell if it was anger or worry that caused the look. As he looked over the broom and listened to Ron try and convince him to allow Ron to try riding it, Harry could not help but wonder what mess this new gift would bring, after all, in his experience, nothing this good ever came for free.

* * *

The students had returned from their holiday late on Saturday evening, the next morning saw Ron and Oliver Wood ambushing Harry in the Common Room before he had even had a chance to go down and get breakfast. Ron had apparently noticed Harry's uncertainty about the new broom and had decided to enlist Oliver in trying to get Harry to try it out. To further that end Rona had even brought the broomstick down from their room and was clutching it possessively as he nodded along to Oliver's speech.

Harry stood, blinking sleepily at the two rapidly speaking, and gushing, about the new broom and thought about what he would have for breakfast when he finally made it down to the Great Hall. Because he was the only one facing the portrait hole, and not paying attention to the conversation, he was the first to notice Professor McGonagall enter the Common Room, a sheepish Hermione following behind.

The rest of the Common Room, the few people who were awake so early on a Sunday morning, slowly fell quiet and Harry found himself wondering when the last time was that he had seen Professor McGonagall in their Common Room. He was drawing a blank as the Professor stopped behind the still ranting boys and cleared her throat.

"_**Miss Granger has just informed me that you have been sent a broomstick, Potter."**_

He nodded and pointed to the broom Ron was still holding, "That's it Professor."

"_**May I?" said Professor McGonagall, but she didn't wait for an answer before pulling the Firebolt out of his hands. She examined it carefully from handle to twig-ends, "Hmm. And there was no note at all, Potter? No card? No message of any kind?"**_

"_**No," said Harry**_, thinking he knew where this conversation was going but enjoying the looks of bewilderment on Oliver and Ron's faces too much to speed it up.

"_**I see..," said Professor McGonagall. "Well, I'm afraid I will have to take this, Potter."**_

"Of course Professor," said Harry. He knew it was too good to be true that he would be allowed to keep the broom, he had hoped, but was unsurprised by the end result. Ron and Oliver's reactions were somewhat funny, though Oliver's exclamation of 'I don't care if it throws him off as long as he catches the Snitch first' caused him to scowl and shoot the Quidditch Captain a nasty look, though it was not nearly as nasty as the one Professor McGonagall shot him.

After that rather insensitive comment, the Professor turned to the silently observing Harry, "Once the Professor's have had a chance to look this over then I will return it to you if nothing dangerous is found. Have a good day gentlemen."

With a swish of her robes, Professor McGonagall, and the Firebolt, disappeared back out the portrait hole. Harry rolled his eyes at the gaping Wood and Ron who was slowly turning a darker and darker shade of red. Wood was seventeen, he should want what was best for his players, not just want to win a game. And Ron had been Harry's friend for two and a half years now, he should know that the Potter luck ran in two's-fortune and misfortune. With a sigh he slipped past the two, determined to go get his breakfast before the Great Hall stopped serving it.

As he was slipping out of the portrait hole he heard Ron shout at Hermione and her equally loud return.

"_**What did you go running to McGonagall for?"**_

"_**Because I thought-and Professor McGonagall agrees with me-that that broom was probably sent to Harry by Sirius Black!"**_

* * *

An irritated Harry flopped down on the bench beside Sephiroth at the Ravenclaw table, angrily stabbing the sausage on the plate that had been set aside for him. While there had not been many students awake in the Common Room this morning, he knew that by this time tomorrow the entire school would know that one of the teachers suspected that Sirius Black had sent a cursed object to _the_ Harry Potter. The students had finally begun to move past the incident at Halloween and the disastrous first Quidditch game, now they would have a whole new thing to point and stare about.

Acid green eyes watched the way he viscously mangled the sausage link with his fork before carefully pulling the plate out of his reach and removing the fork from his grip. Equally as slowly, he slid the bowl of sweetened porridge in front of the fuming raven, spoon already in the bowl and less dangerous than a fork. Maybe it was the fact that Sephiroth never asked, or the fact that Harry knew the other boy would truly listen and not cast judgment, but Harry soon found himself telling Sephiroth everything that had happened since yesterday evening when he was so unceremoniously dragged away.

Harry was still talking about how he agreed with Hermione's reasoning but not so much her methods, how it was strange that Ron felt he had just as much right to Harry's possessions as Harry himself did, and the fact that Oliver needed to get his priorities straight, when they finished breakfast and decided to take a walk out on the lawn.

Sephiroth listened, never interrupting and only occasionally humming an answer to let Harry know he was still paying attention, instead allowing Harry to say anything and everything that he wanted to. Finally Harry ran out of steam and stood side-by-side with the quiet silverette watching the shadows cast by the Forbidden Forest play over the undisturbed layer of snow.

After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, Sephiroth's quiet timber broker silence, "If you don't want Ronald in your possessions, then we can look up anti-theft and locking spells to put on your trunk and bag. As for Oliver, from what you have told me before and what I have seen from your Quidditch practice, I would have to say that he is worried about leaving a legacy behind when he graduates at the end of the year. I believe that he may have a type of 'tunnel vision' when it comes to Quidditch. Hermione," he sighed and shoved his hands deeper into his robe pockets, "...with Hermione I think you are more angry about her announcing that Sirius Black might be after you than telling your Head of House about the mysterious broomstick." Those acid green eyes cut sideways to look at Harry's face, "But have you even talked to her yet about what is going on with Sirius Black?"

Harry huffed and crossed his arms, refusing to make eye contact with the softly glowing pair. He had not in fact talked to Hermione or Ron about what they had overheard in the Three Broomsticks, there had not yet been time for a discussion of that length, and Harry was still unsure if he even wanted to have that conversation. The only time since learning about Sirius Black being his godfather that he had even spoken the words aloud was one night during the break when he had awoken from a nightmare.

The dream had been a confusing mix of his mother's pleads for his life, a high cruel laugh, and the Minister's voice repeating over and over, "You-know-who's most loyal, sold them out, coming back to finish the job." He had carefully slipped from the bed, knowing that he had woken Sephiroth considering how light of a sleeper he was, but he was relieved when the other did not follow him out of the bed or question where he was going. Quietly he traipsed down the stairs, intending to curl up on the couch like he would in the Common Room when he had a nightmare. Instead he found the kitchen light on, and upon investigating, he saw Zack sitting at the kitchen table nursing a mug of something and staring out the glass patio doors. Harry had mumbled a quick apology and attempted to slip back out the door, but Zack had called him back in and offered him a cup of hot chocolate, claiming he could not make it as good as Aerith, but he could still make a pretty decent cup.

They had sat in companionable silence, Harry sipping on his warm drink and Zack staring out the window, for several long minutes when Harry felt the dam in his chest burst and he found himself telling Zack everything new that he had learned about Sirius Black since going to school and how he was uncertain how he was supposed to feel about the man who apparently had helped to murder his parents. How everyone seemed to know that Sirius Black was out to get Harry, but no one had taken the time to explain any of the 'hows' or 'whys' to Harry or told/taught him how to protect himself. Then to top it all off, Harry learned that the deranged killer was his godfather and possibly could have gotten custody of Harry had he not murdered thirteen people. Then Harry had whispered the thing that disturbed him, would living with the psychotic right hand of Voldemort been better than living with the Dursleys.

Zack had listened quietly to Harry, in much the same way that Sephiroth was now, waiting patiently for him to get out everything that was bothering him. With a sigh, he laid one warm hand over Harry's where he had them clenched tight on the table and waited till green eyes met oddly serious violet before he spoke.

"People are complicated, sometimes they do things for reasons that even they do not understand. But there is one thing that you should know and remember 'Monsters are what people make them, and some are very good at looking human'."

Harry had contemplated those words as he finished his hot chocolate and allowed Zack to usher him up to bed and thought that he understood what Zack was saying. The Dursleys worked endlessly to be seen as 'normal' by everyone who met them, but behind closed doors they were anything but, they were monsters. What people see was not always what, or who, a person was.

With a nod to himself, Harry turned to Sephiroth and started walking again, explaining everything he knew to the other about what was going on with Sirius Black. He talked about the warning Mr. Weasley gave him before getting on the train, about the cryptic conversation he had overheard between Professors Dumbledore and Snape on Halloween night, and went over again the conversation that they had overheard in the Three Broomsticks. He even repeated the advice that Zack had given him, watching as a gleam of understanding crossed Sephiroth's face and shone in his eyes.

By the time Harry had finished getting everything off his chest the two boys had wandered down close to Hagrid's hut. With everything going this year, Harry had not gotten an opportunity to visit with the half-giant other than during class. Plus, Hagrid always kept a great fire going and while both boys had brought their winter cloaks down to breakfast, having planned to find an open area where they could practice forms, the crisp January air had turned out to be colder than expected.

* * *

The visit to Hagrid had not turned out how Harry had expected. The half-giant had apparently received a letter over the break that stated that Buckbeak would be going to court and facing possible execution for hurting a student. While Harry did feel sorry for the majestic creature and more so for his first friend, he did not understand why Hagrid had gotten so upset at Sephiroth's suggestion to release Buckbeak back into the wild before the trial and decision took place. It had seemed a perfectly reasonable idea to Harry, but Hagrid had taken offense stating that, "Poor Buckbeak coul' never survive ou' on his own."

The conversation had quickly died out after that and Harry and Sephiroth soon found themselves back in the Entrance Hall, knocking snow off their boots and shaking out the hems of their cloaks.

"There you are Harry," shouted an older male voice and Harry looked up to see Oliver Wood jumping down the last few steps of the main staircase and rushing over to the two boys.

"I've been looking all over for you. Listen I'm going to talk to Professor McGonagall about getting your broom back, after all she wants to win the house cup as much as we do, but...umm… it's not going to do us much good if the dementors...umm...you know." He shrugged and waved helplessly at Harry before indicating the general direction of the Hospital Wing.

Harry sighed and rubbed his nose, pushing his glasses up his face in the process. He had not truly given much thought to Professor Lupin's offer to teach him how to get rid of dementors but he guessed that he would have to now.

"It's okay, Oliver. Professor Lupin has offered to teach me how to get rid of dementors. Besides I doubt Professor Dumbledore will allow them to get that close again, I'll be fine for the next game."

"Awesome," the wildly grinning seventeen year old clapped him on the shoulder, "then I'm going to go find Professor McGonagall and try and get your broom back. We are going to win the House Cup this year."

Harry groaned and thumped his head down on Sephiroth's shoulder, growling and swatting at the other when his shoulders started to shake in laughter.

* * *

Monday morning found Ron avoiding Hermione, Harry avoiding Ron, and Hermione avoiding both boys, although Harry did not think that she was avoiding him on purpose. As Hagrid lectured the class on salamanders, and allowed them to feed the flames keeping the scurrying creatures warm, Harry found himself wondering if it would be very difficult to sneak one of the little creatures up to the Common Room and keep it in the fireplace there. He spent his free period while Ron and Hermione where in Divination looking up, or attempting to look up, spells to keep other people out of his trunk and bags and wondering whether he could learn that spell that Hermione had used to put the blue flames in the jar and use that to sneak a salamander to the Common Room or is simply asking Hagrid would be better.

He was still distracted with his scheming by the time Defense Against the Dark Arts was finished, and would have continued on to His and Sephiroth's meeting room, Fen and Groot had been pleased to see the two after their long period of absence, if a pale hand had not wrapped around his arm and steered him back into the Defense Classroom.

Harry shot Sephiroth a betrayed look but was ignored in favor of dragging the shorter boy up to the teacher, who was collecting papers from his desk and looked surprised to see both boys in his classroom. Harry grumbled as he was man-handled up to the desk, he had to get taller so that people did not find it so easy to drag him around all the time.

"What can I help you boys with?" questioned the Professor, setting aside his papers to give them his full attention.

Harry took a deep breath and looked up at the shabby professor, the bags under his eyes looking bigger than they had before break, "Remember when you offered me a chance to learn how to handle dementors, Professor Lupin?...Well I was wondering if that offer still stood?"

Professor Lupin looked shocked for a moment before he recovered himself and smiled, quickly nodding his head, "Of course, of course, how would...Thursdays at eight o'clock work, I don't believe you have class during that time do you?"

Harry shook then nodded his head, "No sir, I have Astronomy on Wednesday night so Thursdays are good, as long as Sephiroth can join us for lessons."

Faintly yellow eyes looked at acid green before quickly averting, "Yes, yes, that should be fine, as long as Mr. Crescent-Fair won't be missing out on any of his classes."

"I am available on Thursday nights," answered Sephiroth, standing up straight and watching the Professor's every move.

"Good...well then, we can meet in the History of Magic classroom on Thursday. I will have to come up with a way for you to practice. We can't very well bring a dementor into the school. Hmmm…" Professor Lupin hummed, rubbing his hand on his chin and gaining that far-off look that Hermione and Sephiroth tended to adopt when they were working on a particularly stubborn problem.

Sephiroth shot Harry an unreadable look before turning back and clearing his throat, "What about a boggart?"

The Professor looked up startled, "What?"

"What if we found a boggart? It could turn into a dementor, could it not?"

"Well...yes, I suppose that could work, but I do not believe that your boggart was a dementor, Mr. Crescent-Fair."

Sephiroth shot Harry another unreadable look and Harry finally caught onto what the other was implying, "Oh! You think my boggart might be a dementor."

Professor Lupin blinked as Sephiroth nodded and Harry beamed, "So if my boggart is a dementor then we won't need to bring an actual dementor into the school."

"That could work," mused Professor Lupin, "I will try and locate a boggart before Thursday and come up with an alternate plan in case that does not work. Now I'm sure you two have somewhere to be, run along." He shooed them from his classroom closing the door as they left.

* * *

By the time Thursday evening came, Harry was a mess of nerves, both dreading and anticipating the lesson with Professor Lupin. He was dreading being unable to perform whatever spell or defensive measure and always being susceptible to the dementors, while also anticipating hearing his parents voices again. The conflicting feelings had his stomach so tied up in knots that he had been unable to stomach more than a few bites of toast and a couple swallows of pumpkin juice. Sephiroth had taken one look at Harry's face and made him go to their practice room, running through forms and mock spars until they had to run in order to be at the History of Magic classroom on time.

Come to find out, they had not needed to rush as it took Professor Lupin an additional ten minutes to join them. He entered the room, levitating a trunk behind him, to find Sephiroth sitting on a desktop and Harry laying beside him with his head pillowed in his lap and Sephiroth's fingers running through his hair. He cleared his throat causing two sets of green eyes to look at him before Harry slowly sat up and stretched.

"Were you able to find a boggart Professor?" asked Harry as he moved to the open area at the front of the classroom.

"Yes, I was. Hopefully this will work and he can stay in my office when we are not using him." He looked at both boys before clearing his throat a second time.

"_**So…." Professor Lupin indicated that Harry should take out his wand. "The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry-well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm."**_

"_**How does it work?" said Harry nervously.**_

"_**Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus," said Lupin, "which is a kind of anti-dementor-a guardian that act as a shield between you and the dementor." **_

_**Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid-sized figure holding a large club. Professor Lupin continued, "The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon-hope, happiness, the desire to survive-but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it."**_

"What does a Patronus look like? Is it a spell stream or does it have a physical shape?" questioned Sephiroth, causing Professor Lupin to jump.

"The Patronus has a physical shape, usually some type of animal, and it depends on the wizard doing the casting." Lupin dropped into lecture mode, "Experts are unsure whether a Patronus is a person's Animagus form, or more of a spirit guide like the Native American's believe in. The majority of wizards who can cast a Patronus and also have an Animagus form will share the same form between the two. However, not all wizards who can cast the Patronus Charm have an Animagus form, and there are the rare few who have both and their Animagus form and Patronus do not match."

He shook his head and looked at the two teenagers who were watching him with rapt attention, "But enough of that. We're not here to discuss magical theory. We're here so that you can learn the Patronus Charm."

"For this spell to work you have to concentrate very hard on a single happy memory. The happiest memory that you can think of. Then you say the incantation _Expecto Patronum. _Give it a few tries."

Harry closed his eyes and gripped his wand tight. Happy memories were not exactly a common thing in his life. The first one to pop into his head was his first experience flying. He focused on the feeling of the wind rushing past his ears and the feeling in his stomach as he dived toward the ground in a controlled free fall. He focused on those feelings as hard as he could and was raising his wand to attempt the spell when another memory came to mind. The day before Marge arrived over the summer, when Harry and Sephiroth had spent the day in the park. He felt the tension release from his shoulders as he thought about the way the sun had felt on his face and the sound of his and Sephiroth's laughter mixing on the light breeze.

Holding onto that feeling, Harry raised his wand and spoke the incantation, "_Expecto Patronum._" Silvery mist shot from his wand and began to form the hazy outline of a long shape before dissipating into the air.

Harry jumped clapping once, or twice, and looked over to see Sephiroth smiling with approval and Professor Lupin's eyes widened in shock. Harry smirked as the thought crossed his mind that if he had managed a shape with that first attempt, then he might have actually caused the man's jaw to drop.

The man shook his head sharply, causing thin brown hair to fly around, "Very good Harry," Harry smiled as he watched Sephiroth's nose curl at the familiar address, but ignored it in favor of paying attention, "do you want to practice a few more times or do you want to try with the boggart?"

Harry took a moment to think before he answered, "I think I have a feel for the spell now and I want to practice with the boggart. It does me no good to know the spell if I can't perform it under pressure." He smiled at that last part as it was similar to something Zack was constantly telling Kadaj when he got impatient at running through forms.

Professor Lupin nodded and pointed his wand at the trunk, "Very well then. _Alohomora." _

Harry watched as the lid slowly creaked open and the indistinct shape transformed into the misty hooded shape of a dementor. He raised his wand and tried to concentrate on the memory of his day of peace with Sephiroth as the chilling cold seeped into his bones and the screams of his mother began ringing in his ears. His lips formed the words of the spell but no sound escaped as Voldemort's twisted laugh mingled with the pleas. His knees buckled as his father's deep rumble joined the others.

He dimly heard Professor Lupin forcing the boggart back into its trunk as he felt Sephiroth's strong arms wrap around his waist and slowly lower him to the ground. Bleary eyes focused on the Chocolate Frog being offered to him by a hand covered in lighter colored scars. Harry munched on the frog while avoiding the eyes of the two others in the room.

"I want to try again." stubbornly Harry pushed himself to his feet as he heard Sephiroth sigh behind him.

"Harry I don't think…"

"I want to try again." interrupted Harry. His look of determination must have been convincing because those yellow eyes closed in defeat.

Harry tried three more times that night before Professor called a stopped to the lesson and Sephiroth led a dead eyed Harry up to the Ravenclaw Dorms to sleep.

* * *

When Slytherin beat Ravenclaw in their match a week into term, Harry suddenly found out that the idea of free time became a foreign concept. Wood had the team practicing five times a week, Sephiroth had him practicing every afternoon, and Lupin had him practicing every Thursday night.

Without the Firebolt, Quidditch Practice was still just a time to be in the air, and Harry could not bring himself to spend the money necessary to order himself a new broom. However, he was not about to give up one of his few means of relaxation, so he allowed Oliver to hold out the hope that the Firebolt would soon be returned.

The lessons with Sephiroth were relaxing in a different manner than Quidditch practice was. Quidditch practice required Harry's entire focus and wore his body out physically. Practice with Sephiroth allowed Harry's mind to settle into a meditative state as he repeated the same steps so many times that his body could react without his conscious input. He always left their practice room with his mind more at ease than when he went in.

Thursday evenings were disheartening and caused Harry to once again question his sanity. After each lesson he would curl up in Sephiroth's bed chocolate warming his stomach but not his soul. He knew it was stupid, but for each failure he came away happy to have heard his parents. To have a tangible proof that his parents really had cared for him was worth the hollow feeling. Unfortunately, that meant that he entered each lesson with a part of himself unwilling to actually cast the spell so that he could hear their voices getting clearer and clearer with each go. He knew that Sephiroth had noticed his reluctance, but the elder had yet to bring it up, and Harry was quite grateful for that.

Harry also had Sephiroth to thank for the fact that he was able to get his homework done and turned in, in an acceptable state. Sephiroth helped him keep organized and would often have Harry do small portions of it before they practiced in the afternoons. Sundays were devoted to finishing essays and reading chapters together. As they worked together to get things finished, Harry found more and more of his lessons making sense. Sephiroth did not tell Harry the answers to his questions or tell him what to write in his essays; but instead Sephiroth taught him how to find the information he would need and pick out the important parts of chapters he would read. Harry enjoyed their study sessions and found himself learning beyond the required material. He had offered for Hermione to join his and Sephiroth's study group, but had quickly backed off when the girl had started raving and waving books and papers around.

Harry had Sephiroth to thank for keeping him from going insane attempting to get all his work done, but he had his insane schedule to thank for allowing him a reprieve from Ron. Ron had taken to ambushing Harry between classes and pestering him during them, encouraging him to ask Professor McGonagall everyday whether she would give the Firebolt back. Being so busy meant that he could escape for a short amount of time.

* * *

Harry was sitting on the floor, panting from another failed attempt at driving the faux-dementor away. Professor Lupin was sitting on top of the trunk holding the creature while Sephiroth paced slowly around the edge of the room. Harry was used to Sephiroth's stalking walk, but he found it amusing that every time Sephiroth did it, Professor Lupin's eyes would follow his every move.

"_**What's under a dementor's hood?" **_asked Harry, watching as Sephiroth stopped his circling and cocked his head to the left in thought.

"_**Hmmm...well, the only people who really know are in no condition to tell us. You see, the dementor lowers its hood only to use its last and worst weapon."**_

"_**What's that?"**_

"_**They call it the Dementor's Kiss," said Lupin, with a slightly twisted smile, "It's what dementors do to those they wish to destroy utterly. I suppose there must be some kind of mouth under there, because they clamp their jaws upon the mouth to the victim and-and suck out his soul."**_

Lupin looked at the wide eyed shock on his two student's faces and continued, _**"You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you'll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no….anything. There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just-exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever… lost."**_

Harry watched as Sephiroth shuddered and touched his heart, eyes seeming to glow even brighter in the dimness of the classroom.

"_**It's the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the **_**Daily Prophet**_** this morning. The Ministry have given the dementors permission to perform it if they find him."**_

Harry felt his mouth drop open and looked at an equally stunned Sephiroth.

"Why?" asked Sephiroth walking up behind Harry and laying a hand on his shoulder.

Professor Lupin's eyebrows scrunched together as he looked at the two students, "Why what?"

"Why has the ministry ordered him to get the Dementor's Kiss if he's found? What has he done since his escape to justify him receiving the kiss now when he never received it before." The last might have been phrased as a question, but Harry could hear the statement in it. Harry found himself nodding along to Sephiroth's logic. Ever since his escape the only mentions of Sirius Black in the _Daily Prophet _were to state that the man had not been recaptured yet, there was never any mention of him doing anything like what he went to jail for.

Both boys watched as the Professor's jaw dropped and he looked at the boys with a wary expression, "Well...that is...the Ministries decision and they must know something that we do not." He stood up and clapped his hands, "Harry do you want to continue practicing or are we calling it a night?"

Harry exchanged a glance with Sephiroth, they would allow the subject to drop for now, but they would return to it at a later date, "I'm ready to try again Professor."

* * *

Thirty minutes later saw Sephiroth leading an emotionally drained Harry into his room in the Ravenclaw Tower. Before Harry could face plant on the bed like he normally did, Sephiroth grabbed his wrist and backed him up against the door.

"What is going on Harry? I did not say anything at the beginning but it is now almost the end of February. You should be able to perform the spell by now, at least the beginnings of it. What is keeping you from putting your all into this?" Sephiroth kept his voice low as he locked eyes with Harry.

Harry squirmed where he was held blocked against the door, but knew that he really stood no chance of breaking the other's hold. With a sigh, he looked up to the ceiling as he started talking, "I hear my parent's when the dementors get near and each time this fake one gets near their voices keep getting clearer and clearer. I know it's stupid but part of me is happy to hear the pproof they really did love me and wanted to protect me. My mother pleaded with Voldemort to kill her instead of me."

He dropped his head to thud against the door, "Everyone has always said that she loved me enough to sacrifice herself, but being told that and hearing it are two totally different things. Plus, this is the only memory that I have of them. This is the only concrete thing that is completely mine and comes from them. It's not a memory given to me by someone else in the form of a picture. It's mine."

"It's mine," hissed Harry one more time, finally making eye contact with his captor. Sephiroth sighed and shook his head before spinning Harry around quickly and shoving him in the direction of the bed.

The quick transition was disorienting and it took Harry a moment to realize that Sephiroth had laid him robe over his desk chair and was now working on removing his button-up shirt. For all the time that Harry had spent with Sephiroth, he could not remember a single time when he had seen Sephiroth without a shirt on.

Even when they shared a room, Sephiroth always made sure to change in the bathroom. Harry had originally thought it was because the other was shy, but as the shirt was removed and he caught sight of the numerous scars, some pale and thin, other's thicker and with a faint green tint to them; he realized why the other had never taken his shirt off around him before.

Sephiroth's back and part of his front were covered in criss-cross scars barely visible against his pale skin, but Harry had seen those scars upon his own back and upper arms. The inside of his arms were covered in pinprick scars and curling darkened veins. Mirrored on his lower back and the middle of his stomach were two thick twisted scars that looked as though Sephiroth had been run through with something large and not that sharp.

"If I'm going to tell this story than I need you to sit quietly and let me finish the whole thing, okay?"

Harry nodded and pantomimed zipping his lips shut, an action that would have normally gotten at least the beginnings of a smile from Sephiroth, but did not get even the tiniest reaction this time.

"Zack and Aerith aren't our actual parents. My mother was a research professor in Japan and my father worked for a special branch of the government, their names were Lucrecia Crescent and Vincent Valentine. Because of their respective jobs they were unable to get married, but one thing lead to another and I was born. My mother's death was labeled a lab accident and my father disappeared, so I was left in the care of my mother's husband, a colleague named Hojo."

He lifted a hand to the scars the wrapped over his right shoulder, "Hojo did not believe in the ethics of science, he thought he was above all guidelines and that he was never wrong in anything he did. Human experimentation was an easy thing for him, and I was his favorite test subject. My brother's were a result of his experiments in trying to recreate me."

He moved his hand from his shoulder to the bisecting scar on his stomach, "Some things happened and we were finally free from Hojo. Zack and Aerith took us in and raised us as their own. They've been perfect for the last three years, every temper tantrum, every nightmare and phobia, the mistrust; they've taken it all in stride made us feel safe and loved. Some days it even feels like our time with Hojo was just a bad dream."

Sephiroth laid his hand on Harry's cheek, "I understand you wanting to hold onto a piece of your parents, trust me I do. I grew up believing that Hojo was my father and my mother was one of his other experiments. But if you are going to get this spell right, then you have to hold onto the memory you have already gained and let the desire for more go."

Harry blinked and wished that he could cry for himself and for Sephiroth as he felt the prickling sting in his eyes. He grabbed Sephiroth's hand where it was laid on his cheek and used a move Zack had taught him to pull the other down onto the bed. With a chuckle, Sephiroth pulled Harry to rest against his chest and the two drew comfort from each other as decisions were made and past hurts released.

* * *

Friday night Harry was returning from Quidditch Practice and planning to grab a quick shower and his school books before joining Sephiroth to finish a Potion's essay on poisons, when Professor McGonagall stopped him. She held out the Firebolt that she had confiscated from Harry almost two months ago.

"Here you are Mr. Potter. The teacher's have done every test we could think of on it, and have found nothing wrong with it. You have someone who has been very generous to you."

Harry smiled and clutched the broom, "Thank you Professor. I'm glad to know that it's safe."

The stern Professor's eyes softened at the look of glee on Harry's face, "No thanks is necessary, Potter, simply win Saturday's match, will you? As Professor Snape has so _kindly_ reminded me, we will have to win tomorrow to have a chance at the Cup."

"Of course Professor. We'll all try our best."

"Good, now run along. I'm sure there are others that want to see that broom." McGonagall laughed as Harry rolled his eyes and huffed.

Harry ran into Neville outside the Portrait arguing with the...eccentric...Sir Cadogan who had taken over guarding since the Fat Lady's portrait had been damaged. The man was exasperating enough to all of the student's but he was especially challenging to poor Neville who could never remember what Sir Cadogan had changed the password to for the fourth or fifth time that week.

Neville was close to tears as he argued that he had lost his list of passwords and did not know what Sir Cadogan had changed it to for the day. Harry glared at the knight and helped the poor boy into the Common Room, the man yelled at Neville everyday for forgetting the password. Harry figured that he should remember who Neville was and just let him in the Tower.

Entering the Common Room, Harry braced himself as Ron caught sight of Harry and instantly fixated on the broom in his possession. The redhead quickly leapt up from the couch where he was pretending to do homework and made a beeline for Harry, who was heading toward a flustered Hermione who had taken over an entire table as she worked on her homework.

Harry ignored a rapidly chattering Ron and smiled at a distracted Hermione, "Professor McGonagall returned the Firebolt to me, I thought you would like to know that she said it was completely safe."

Hermione smiled and both she and Harry ignored Ron's muttered, "Of course it was safe, it's a _Firebolt_."

He looked at the essay Hermione was working on, "Sephiroth and I are about to start working on that essay for Professor Snape if you want to join us."

Hermione looked around at her scattered papers and piles of books, "I don't know, I still…" Harry laid a hand over her frantic one and smiled when she looked up, "Oh...okay." she huffed, her lips quirking up in a matching smile.

"Cool, let me just put this in the room and…"

"I'll put it up." interrupted Ron, snatching the broom from Harry's hand and running up the stairs to their room. Harry growled and went to follow the redhead when a shriek from their room drew the attention of the entire dorm. Harry stumbled back as Ron pushed down the stairs, a blood stained sheet clutched in his fist.

"YOUR BLOODY CAT HAS DONE IT THIS TIME! LOOK, HE ATE SCABBERS! AND ON MY BED TOO!

Hermione's lip trembled as Ron continued to wave the sheet in her face. With the way Scabbers had been looking lately, Harry thought that the smushed-faced cat had done the poor creature a service, but Hermione apparently did not believe that Crookshanks was capable of killing the rat if the current argument she was having with Ron was any indication.

"I KNOW IT WAS HIM BECAUSE I FOUND THESE AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME!" Ron threw several ginger cat hairs on the table in front of Hermione before stomping off, muttering about murderous cats.

Harry sighed and scrubbed his hand through his hair, "Hermione, pack up your supplies while I go shower and get my books, then you're going to come study with me and Sephiroth." The grateful look on Hermione's face was well worth the screaming fit Ron would throw when he realized that Harry was 'taking Hermione's side.'

* * *

**A.N.-This chapter is 7,380 words long and 17 pages in length. I wrote Sephiroth's family reveal for one of the earlier chapters, but realized that it would not fit with the actual plot and would open up too many questions when the real story came out. I might include the original scene as an extra in a later chapter, but this one is much too long for that.**

**Reviews: **

**Juxshoa: Glad you think Sephiroth is adorable and not too much, sometimes it's a tough balancing act. Magical earrings...now where might I have gotten that idea, especially runic ones. Lol**

**She Who Cannot Be Turned: Glad your liking the family dynamic and yes I agree that they are hypocrites both here in my story and sometimes in the books. Glad reading this is keeping you as sane as writing it is keeping me, me and mine are fortunately doing well but my family has a problem with being immune compromised to certain things, so we have been extremely careful since this all started. About the piercings, I did not know that the U.K. did not have an age of consent, interesting to know. It's not quite an age of consent here, more like an age of responsibility. You have to sign the papers stating that you understand that a piercing is a permanent/semi-permanent thing and you have been informed of what you need to do to keep the area healthy while it heals. Where I'm from it's tradition for baby girls to get their ears pierced before their first birthday, I still have my gold set from that.**

**buterflypuss: Always nice to hear from you :)**

**Enjali: I **_**hate**_** when people, and the books, have Harry instantly forgiving Harry for everything. He is an abused kid, everything everyone does is suspect and once his trust is lost it is gone for good. I am doing it for a reason, but it is both going faster and slower than I like.**

**Guest: Glad you found my other story, and I am thinking about it, but it is not likely to happen how you want it to.**

**Saturnblue: Thank you for your kind words, no other characters are planned to be introduced in this book but I plan to include some others as we continue down the timeline. Not sure about relationships yet, we'll see where it goes. **


	13. Chapter 13

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Thirteen: Fakes and Mistakes**

Harry made a beeline for the Ravenclaw table the next morning at breakfast. Studying last night with Hermione had gone well, until Harry decided to tell Sephiroth what had happened in the dorm room before they left and made the, most likely accurate, assumption that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers. Hermione had become furious that Harry was taking Ron's side and accusing her cat and had stormed out of the Ravenclaw common room stating she 'had too much studying to do to be sitting around listening to slander.' She had been close to tears when she stormed out, so both Harry and Sephiroth had agreed that she _probably_ did not mean what she had said, but either way, Harry was determined to stay out of the latest spat for as long as he could, he was tired of playing referee for his two volatile and stubborn friends.

His plan had been quite simple and he was confident in its success because of that. He had returned to the Common Room last night right at curfew and flown through his nightly routine, claiming that he wanted to get plenty of sleep for tomorrow's game. He then woke up early this morning and entered the Common Room to find Oliver already up and agonizing over the game. Harry hastily handed Oliver the Firebolt, mumbling something about not feeling safe carrying it down to breakfast in case someone tried to take it and made a mad dash to the portrait hole while he was distracted.

Harry's hasty entrance into the Great Hall was quickly overshadowed by the arrival of the Gryffindor Quidditch team with the Firebolt being proudly displayed by Fred and George. The entirety of the student body was captivated by the arrival of the 'ultimate' broom, many of the students even going up to the Gryffindor table to look at it. Harry patted his back at his forward thinking to not be involved in the circus that resulted from the arrival of the broom.

Unlike Harry, Ron appeared to be enjoying all of the attention being given to the Firebolt and by extension the Gryffindors, sitting right beside the broom and extolling its virtues to any of the students who would listen to him. Malfoy's look of shock and confusion when he strutted up to the Gryffindor table and did not find Harry gave Harry and Sephiroth a good laugh. Hermione never came down to breakfast, but neither Harry nor Sephiroth was very surprised by that since the girl often skipped meals in favor of completing homework.

An hour before the match was set to begin, Harry and Sephiroth collected the Firebolt and snuck down to the Quidditch pitch so that Harry could have some practice flying before the game. The speed was exhilarating, and Harry was soon laughing as he completed heart-stopping dives and hair-pin turns. As the stands began to fill up with spectators, Harry landed and collected his belongings from Sephiroth and joined the rest of his team in the locker room.

He ignored Oliver's pre-game fretting, a staple of every game at this point, and made sure that he had his wand secured on his person. He might not have been able to produce a Patronus when faced with the boggart-dementor, but that did not mean that he was stupid enough to not carry his wand with him. As he slid it in his t-shirt and made sure that he could reach it quickly and not have to worry about it falling out while he was flying, he started to wonder if it was possible to charm a wand in the same way that his dagger was charmed. Kotegiri would come to Harry's hand whenever he mentally summoned it, surely wands could be summoned in a similar manner.

He put that aside as something to think about later and research with Sephiroth as the team filed out onto the field. The day was beautiful and clear, barely a cloud in the sky, perfect for flying. Harry glanced at the stands and realized that all of the school seemed to be present, stomping their feet and clapping their hands and generally making as large a ruckus as possible. Days like today made Harry happy as it showcased House unity.

The shrill sing of the whistle was still fading into the stands as Harry came to a stop well above the heads of the other players. He reigned in the urge to give a few laps around the stadium, instead focusing his attention on looking for the Snitch. Lazily he drifted around the stadium keeping a sharp eye out for the flash of the Snitch. The Ravenclaw Seeker, the only girl on the team the he thought Oliver might have called Cho was poised on her broom under Harry, keeping a close eye on him and the field. A smirk curled his lips as he recognized her tactic, but even on his Nimbus 2000 she would not have stood a chance at out pacing him on a broom, now her only chance lay in seeing the Snitch before he did.

His first dive for the Snitch was cut off by a well aimed Bludger from the Ravenclaw Beater, revenge quickly sought by a much too enthusiastic George. The second attempt at capture was cut off by Cho herself as she flew in front of his dive, not aiming for the Snitch, simply for cutting him off. He was unsure who yelled louder at that point, Oliver at him or Professor McGonagall at Lee Jordan who was announcing the game.

With the third attempt Harry distracted Cho with a feint dive before pelting down the field toward the Ravenclaw goalposts where the Snitch was merrily weaving in around the base of the golden posts. Cho's drop during the dive allowed her to close on Harry's tail twigs, but he could tell that unless there was another unforeseen accident, possessed Bludgers and soul-sucking creatures came to mind, he would soon have the Snitch in his grasp.

Cho's scream had him glancing over his shoulder, wary of a trick, but also not willing to be blindsided by an actual danger, cursed broomsticks was another possibility. He watched her pull up abruptly, pointing at the field. The field where three dementors were approaching the rapidly descending Harry.

Without a conscious thought, Harry felt Kotegiri's reassuring weight settle into his right hand. He took a moment to judge the distance between the dementors and the Snitch before snapping his wrist toward the ground and sending the blade hurtling toward the creatures. The air was still warm upon his face as he stretched out his hand and closed his fingers around the sun warmed Snitch.

As Madam Hooch's whistle pierced the air and signaled the end of the game, Harry felt the weight of Kotegiri returning to his hand and quickly hid the blade in a fold of his game robe. The rest of the team descended upon him in a mass of cheering and waving limbs. They landed as one riotous mass, soon joined by an influx of cheering and yelling Gryffindor spectators. Everywhere Harry turned was a new face congratulating him on his catch or wanting to pat him on the back. The cacophony was becoming so loud that Harry could hardly hear himself think.

Just as he was beginning to think that there was no escaping the swirling mass of humanity that the field had become, an abnormally cool hand wrapped around his wrist and towed him out of the mess of bodies. Finally free, Harry took a moment to slide Kotegiri into the top of his boot and make sure that his robe covered it, before he flung his arms around Sephiroth's neck.

"The dementors they didn't affect me! Maybe I don't need to learn the Patronus charm after all, maybe I just need to keep Kotegiri on me."

Harry pulled back, beaming at Sephiroth, only to pause at the half-proud, half-annoyed look on his face. Slowly, he pulled his arms from around Sephiroth's neck, unsure what had caused the annoyance in the other's gaze. Sighing Sephiroth grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him around the still celebrating mass of humanity to see Professor's McGonagall and Lupin standing over Marcus Flint, Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy who were struggling to untangle themselves from overly large black robes. From what he could catch of Professor McGonagall's tirade, it appeared as though the Slytherins had attempted to sabotage Harry during the game.

For Slytherins, the house of the cunning, Harry wondered at how dumb their plan was. Harry was unsure what they had planned to happen since it was not the sight of the dementors that caused Harry to faint, but the feeling of dread that they brought with them. Harry was still wondering what their end goal was, when Professor Lupin turned and noticed Harry and Sephiroth watching the dressing down.

"That was a good beginning of a Patronus, Harry. And under pressure too." The sandy-haired professor gave a laugh and a wry glance at the cringing Slytherins, "Too bad it was against students."

Lupin must have misread Harry's look of confusion because he was quick to carry on, "The silver light that you shot at our unfortunate Slytherins here. True it was not a corporeal Patronus, but it was a good beginning and would most likely be effective against one or two actual dementors."

Harry was still puzzled until it clicked in his mind that the silver streak Professor Lupin had seen was the sunlight reflecting off of Kotegiri, and because the blade had returned to Harry's hand leaving no trace behind, the man had assumed that Harry had attempted to cast the Patronus charm and only partially succeeded.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Harry was quick to adopt a downcast expression, "I guess it was okay Professor, but I wish I could summon a real Patronus when actually faced with a dementor."

Professor Lupin gave Harry a sympathetic smile, "I know Harry, but remember this is a spell that many full-grown wizards have difficulty casting. The fact that you are doing as well as you are is incredible."

The three settled into an awkward silence at Lupin's reassurance that was broken as the celebrating Gryffindors realized that their star player had escaped the festivities. A veritable sea of maroon and gold descended upon them and Harry and Sephiroth were forced to move with the tide or be swept away under its current.

* * *

The Gryffindors continued to move as one entity across the grounds and through the halls of the castle. Gryffindor Tower was in sight when Harry and Sephiroth were once again able to separate themselves from the hoard. With a look they quickly hurried back down the corridor and behind a tapestry of rolling hills that hid a staircase down to the fifth floor. From the fifth floor they took another hidden passage, this one a long corridor behind a painting of a feast that ended in a spiraling staircase that went up to the seventh floor. Sephiroth quickly surveyed the hallway, and at the all clear signal, both boys sprinted down the hallway and through the doorway that Fen guarded, ignoring the painted man's question in favor of getting a solid barrier between them and anyone searching for them.

Catching their breath, both boys shared a look before bursting out in semi-hysterical laughter. Once their bout of insane amusement had passed, the boys collapsed on the giant cushions that Sephiroth had Transfigured from broken chairs stored in the room. Harry had charmed his to be a nice green color with light pink swirls similar in color to Aerith's ever present ribbon on it. Sephiroth's was charmed by Harry to be a deep blue color with the outline of feathers all over it in a darker blue color.

Rolling over onto his stomach, Harry reached over into the pile of broken scrap wood and tossed the spindle of a chair onto the glowing embers that filled a small depression on the floor surrounded by a two foot tall Transfigured iron fence. He smiled as the little salamander named Pyre scuttled across the wood offering; little paw prints of fire being left in his wake. Harry and Sephiroth had visited Hagrid soon after the lesson involving the fire-loving creatures and managed to sneak off with one. Together Sephiroth transfigured the fenced off area and Harry applied a barrier spell that he learned while studying an advanced Defense book to keep him in.

Harry enjoyed the way that the flames curled around the little creature and highlighted the orange and yellow streaks that shimmered through the red scales. It was relaxing to watch the little beast scurry through the flames and play hide-and-seek with Sephiroth using the fire logs.

Harry and Sephiroth spent a relaxing afternoon regaling Groot, and therefore Fen, with the eventful afternoon that they had. If the message Groot relayed from Fen was word for word, then Parseltongue had some very interesting curse words that Harry needed to learn. At mid-afternoon and dinner time, Dotty, the house elf Sephiroth had charmed into making him a hot chocolate each morning, brought them a small snack and a table full of food. Harry felt warmth coil in his soul when he noticed the single piece of treacle tart placed on his side of the table and the double chocolate cake on Sephiroth's side.

An hour before curfew, both boys walked toward Gryffindor Tower, however before they even reached the guardian portrait they could hear the party still going in full swing. Sephiroth did not even question it when Harry spun around on his heel and began heading toward the Ravenclaw Tower.

* * *

Hours later, when the moon was on its way down and the stars were the only source of light, Harry was woken by a large, and heavy, weight landing on his chest, With a cry he shot up, launching the weight down to the end of the bed and startling Sephiroth awake beside him. Grabbing his wand, both boys cast _Lumos_ revealing a hissing Crookshanks standing at the end of the bed.

The giant orange monster swiped at Harry's exposed feet and ran for the door, stopping to hiss at the two staring boys. Confused, they grabbed their boots and followed the fluff ball. Several turns in, Harry realized that Crookshanks was leading them back to Gryffindor Tower.

Turning into the corridor that housed Gryffindor House, froze as Crookshanks ran up to a giant black dog and twined around its front paws. The giant beast took a step toward the frozen boys before an ear lifted and the dog disappeared into the hidden passage behind the rolling hills tapestry.

"What are you two doing out here?" Professor McGonagall's annoyed voice followed the appearance of the stern professor dressed in a tartan dressing gown and a hairnet. She pushed both boys toward the dorm, apparently ignoring for the moment that Sephiroth was a Ravenclaw and not a Gryffindor. "I have already told this group one time tonight that the party was over. I do not appreciate being woken up twice in one night to deal with unruly students."

Harry shared a confused look with Sephiroth as they preceded the Professor into the chaos that was the Common Room. Ron was standing in the middle of the Common Room screaming something incomprehensible and several students were standing on the edge of the room and the staircases in their dressing gowns and night clothes.

"_**I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"**_

"_**I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" said Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare- "**_

"_**IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"**_

_**Professor McGonagall stared at him. **_

"_**Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"**_

"_**Ask him!" said Ron, pointing a shaking finger at the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. "Ask him if he saw-"**_

_**Glaring suspiciously at Ron, Professor McGonagall pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with bated breath. **_

"_**Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"**_

"_**Certainly, good lady!" cried Sir Cadogan.**_

_**There was as stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room.**_

"_**You-you did?" said Professor McGonagall. "But-but the password!"**_

"_**He had 'em!" said Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"**_

_**Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk.**_

"_**Which person," she said, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"**_

_**There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy-slippered toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.**_

Harry and Sephiroth exchanged glances as Professor McGonagall turned her fury on poor Neville. If Sirius Black had been in the dorm, then what, or possibly who, had Crookshanks shown them?

* * *

**A.N.-This chapter did not want to be written. It was a pain, but now it's over and I apologize if it's sub-standard, but hopefully next chapter will come easier. **

**Reviews-**

**Wingsong555-(I'm pretty sure you left me a review on chapter 11 but once again it has gotten swallowed in the abyss of the internet and I'm unable to locate it. Thanks for reading and review and I hope you are enjoying the story.) So I typed that answer to your review and then it rose from the abyss for me to find, since the sentiment still applied, I left it.**

**Juxhoa-Can't really be a FFVII fic without some type of cloning, and yes I'm starting to parcel out some of Sephiroth's back story. We'll see about Vincent and Hojo and I'm kind up and down about the Buster Sword, I think I know what's going to happen with it, but it will be awhile before we see that if I do what I want with it.**

**Buterflypuss-Hello darling!**

**She Who Cannot Be Turned-Quarantining is going fine for me-extreme introvert here, enjoying not having to make excuses about not wanting to go somewhere since no one can invite me. Not to the 'cats should wear bow-ties' stage but my fur baby is enjoying all the extra attention, which when you're a twelve year old Chihuahua, I guess you're somewhat entitled. **

**I'm enjoying the interaction between Harry and Sephiroth, I always enter a scene never sure how it go when those two are together. Hermione and Ron are up and down, but they were the same way in the book so I'm not upset by that, and Zack is **_**always**_** awesome.**

**Piercing laws are weird, but then if you sit down and read laws for different places then it can get really confusing. I live on the border of two states, in one of them if you are eighteen then the waiter/waitress can give your parent/legal guardian alcohol and they can slide it down the table to you, completely legal. In the state I live in they can only do that in their own house, not out in public. The passing out is weird, possibly a psychosomatic reaction because your blood pressure rises in anticipation for that small amount of pain. (I've roomed with too many nurses).**

**Mallobie-Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying how the story is going so far. I'm trying to make Harry feel real without getting to OOC, and it's an interesting tightrope walk.**

**god of all- Thank you, I **_**hate**_** good unfinished fics and based on everyone's reactions I'm assuming this one is okay, so I will definitely be finishing it.**

**Enjali-Lily could hold a grudge like a gossiping trophy wife, I feel Harry inherited quite a bit of his mother's personality that does not get the credit its due. For some strange reason, I enjoy a good Voldemort redemption fic, but I'm not sure if that will happen in this story, probably why I chose to start with Book 3, the only one without Voldemort in it. But yes, that phrase of Zack's can go both ways. Suspense on the back story is not entirely what I'm aiming for, but I haven't found a good spot to explain everything, I feel that the level of trust is getting close, but not **_**quite**_** there yet. **

**Sakebi Enkou-You're close on Seph's boggart, pay attention to the color of the feathers and I'm always a sucker for a good redemption story *wink, wink* Glad you're enjoying it!**


	14. Chapter 14

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Fourteen: Casting the Net**

No one slept the rest of that night after it was discovered that Sirius Black really had been in Gryffindor Tower. Several of the girls and first years were almost hysterical, jumping at any sudden noises or the creaking of the castle. Most of the older boys were trying to appear as though they were not as freaked out, but Harry could see them jump and they kept peering into corners and shadows, as though Black was still in the room and simply hiding under an invisibility cloak.

The thought of an invisibility cloak gave Harry pause and he quickly snuck up to the room to check his trunk, leaving Sephiroth to guard the two armchairs they had claimed in a shadowed portion of the room. Opening his trunk, he quickly spied the silvery shimmer of the invisibility cloak folded up under several of his Weasley jumpers. He thought about bringing it back down to the common room with him, but decided that since Professor McGonagall had already caught him and Sephiroth outside the dorm after curfew, if she decided to question them then having the invisibility cloak on him would not look good.

He was closing the lid to return to Sephiroth when a rumpled piece of folded parchment caught his attention. Confused, he picked up the folded square of grubby paper wondering why it was in his trunk and not in his school bag. About to toss the paper on his bed to be returned to his bag later, he remembered what it was-the map that Fred and George had given him to find Sephiroth back at the beginning of the year. The map that supposedly showed every person and every hidden passage in the school.

Harry clutched the paper tight in his hand and rushed down the stairs, reigning in his enthusiasm as he hit the bottom step and walked as calmly as he could across the crowded space to where Sephiroth was waiting. The look on Sephiroth's face said he did not do a fantastic job at keeping his pace completely slow and calm, but no one else gave him any weird or curious looks, so he must have been partially successful.

Smiling, he flopped down in his seat, pulling his legs up so that he sat Indian style in the chair. Sephiroth watched him curiously as he placed the parchment in his lap and pulled his wand. Pointing the wand at the center of the parchment like he had been shown, Harry whispered the unlock phrase loud enough for Sephiroth to hear, but hopefully no one else.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Harry watched Sephiroth's face as the ink lines slowly unfurled to show the message from Messers. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs and the map underneath. Sephiroth's look of fascination turned to one of calculation as he flipped through the different layers of the map and took note of the names scrawled beside small moving footprints. The smile Sephiroth gave was too much teeth to be anything other than predatory, but Harry was not concerned as an answering grin spread across his own face.

* * *

In the following days Harry watched in silence as Professor Flitwick began teaching the entrance doors what Sirius Black looked like from a very large picture, the Fat Lady was completely restored and retook her place as guardian of the Gryffindor Tower with a guard of security trolls that prowled the corridor at all hours of the day and night-Harry could never walk by them without remembering his first year and the two mountain trolls they had to face, and Filch was constantly moving around corridors and passageways sealing up even the smallest of holes and openings.

When he noticed that several of the hidden passageways on the map where being left unblocked, Harry almost mentioned them to Professor McGonagall, but her punishment to Neville and the knowledge that she would take the map away from him stayed his hand. For allowing Sirius Black to get possession of the passwords, she had banned him from all Hogsmeade weekends for the rest of the year, given him a detention, and banned anyone from giving him the password for the Tower. Considering everyone knew that Neville's memory was shoddy at best and non-existent at worse, Harry found that last punishment to be completely unreasonable. Neville had attempted to fix the problem in the best way that he could without any adult help, as such Harry felt no qualms with telling Neville the password and helping him to memorize it after the first night he had to stand outside until someone deigned to let him in.

He also did not want to give up the map since it was his only way of getting information about movement within the castle since still no one had spoken to him about Sirius Black. By this point it was a fairly open secret that Black was after Harry for revenge, yet still no teachers, not his Head of House, nor even the Headmaster himself, had taken the time to talk to Harry about what was going on or what precautions he might have to take. No talk about spells he could learn or additional wards that could be placed around his room or the Tower.

Two mornings later, Harry watched from the Ravenclaw table as Neville shot out of the Great Hall like a bat out of hell, a red Howler held out before him like a bomb and tuned out the sounds of Lady Longbottom chewing out her grandson in magically enhanced volume as the entirety of the Slytherin table laughed. He felt his lip curl in a sneer rivaling the one Sephiroth currently wore, if the group were anywhere as cunning as they claimed to be, then they should be attempting to cultivate a friendship with the boy right now. He would forever be in their debt and grateful for their support. Instead, they were following the way of the masses and picking on the unfortunate boy.

Harry shook his head at their stupidity and then rolled his eyes as he looked at the Gryffindor table and realized that they were more interested in listening to Ron regale them a sixth-or seventh, or eighth, or ninetieth time-with his tale of what happened with Sirius Black. The story was not a long one, but the student body enjoyed listening to Ron repeat it, and the redheaded boy was eating it up.

Harry was not that concerned however as it kept the student body's attention off of what Harry and Sephiroth were doing. Ever since the night of the attack and Harry's remembrance of the map, the two boys had spent every spare moment locating each hidden passage on the map and seeing if it had been blocked off yet. Each passage they found was marked in Sephiroth's notebook as either 'open,' 'known,' or 'closed.' They had also taken to exploring the advanced Charm, Defense, and Rune books that they could locate in the library.

Together, they managed to create a combination of runes and alarm spells that they could set to tell them when a certain person passed the point where it was placed. Once the specified person passed the point, a 'buzz' would sound in their minds and alert them to the specific place that the alarm was going off. They practiced repeatedly until they were confident that the spell would only react to Sirius Black and not another student passing the same point. The only drawback was the time required to lay and activate the runes, but Harry was confident that they would have an opportunity soon.

Harry was so distracted with his disgust at the Slytherins and his planning that he did not realize that Hedwig had a letter and a package for him until she pecked him on the nose. Harry glared at Sephiroth as he laughed at Harry almost falling off the bench at the unexpected attack. Rubbing his abused nose, Harry relieved Hedwig of her burden and glared at his second-ever friend as she abandoned him for Sephiroth and the bacon he was holding out for her. Sticking his tongue out at the two traitors, Harry opened the letter to see an invitation from Hagrid for Harry and Ron for tea that evening. He contemplated for a moment about not telling the redhead, but decided that he could at least let the other now and decide for himself whether he wanted to go.

Letter read, Harry now turned to the package. Unwrapping the twine and brown parchment paper, Harry was faced with an emerald green jumper that changed shades of green as the light hit it. On top of the jumper was a short note signed by Mrs. Weasley wishing Harry well and congratulating him on making more friends and 'of course she would not mind making Sephiroth a jumper.'

Harry smiled and slid the package and note down to Sephiroth. His smile softened as he watched Seph read the note and then reverently pick up the jumper and shake it out so that he could see it in its entirety. Harry began chatting about the upcoming visit to Hagrid and what the half-giant might want to talk to them about, ignoring the way Sephiroth's fingers lingered over the black 'S' knitted into the jumper and the misty look in his eye.

* * *

Harry had managed to catch Ron earlier in the day and hand the other boy the message from Hagrid and disappear before he could start recalling his meeting with Sirius Black again.

Just before six Harry and Sephiroth were waiting in the Entrance Hall for Hagrid to collect them, students were no longer allowed out on the grounds after dark without supervision. Harry was trying not to laugh at the fact Sephiroth was wearing his Weasley jumper and running his fingers down the sleeves every few moments. Right at six, Hagrid arrived to collect them and they were about to leave when Ron rushed up to them, having to take a moment to catch his breath before they could continue down to Hagrid's hut.

The walk down was peaceful and Harry was both shocked and not at all surprised to see Buckbeak sprawled out on Hagrid's bed chewing on a collection of bones. As soon as they were seated Ron launched into an animated retelling causing Harry and Sephiroth to roll their eyes. Luckily, Hagrid interrupted before he could get started and Harry sat back as Hagrid pulled Ron over the coals in his kind way for still not talking to Hermione.

The gentle giant had tried to pull Harry into the guilt trip, but he was quick to bring up the fact that Hermione was the one not talking to him, not the other way around. By the time Hagrid finished, Ron's face was almost as red as his hair, but Harry thought Hagrid might have started to get through.

The other reason that Hagrid had called them down to the hut was because Buckbeak's trial was scheduled for that weekend and Hagrid was a little nervous about the event. Harry and Sephiroth tried again, unsuccessfully, to convince Hagrid to simply release Buckbeak, or send him away to a different school/preserve/something, but Hagrid was determined to see the trial through, convinced that he could win with the materials Hermione had provided him with.

At nine o'clock Hagrid returned the boys to the castle and Harry followed Ron to the Tower to see the majority of the House gathered around the announcement board. Ron, being taller than Harry, was able to see the board over the others' heads.

"Yes, we have a Hogsmeade weekend on Saturday."

Ron began babbling about what he wanted to do in Hogsmeade, but Harry was more interested in the fact that the castle would be mostly empty on Saturday. A Cheshire smile stole across Harry's face, finally they could implement their plan.

* * *

Saturday morning Harry and Sephiroth decided that the best place to start was the hidden passage where they had seen Crookshanks and the giant black dog and work their way down the castle in the most likely route that Black could have taken. Both boys had agreed that it was too much of a coincidence that the dog had been there at the same time that Black had escaped and so decided to attempt and retrace his path.

Sephiroth was laying the first line of runes behind the hill tapestry with Harry keeping watch, when Harry caught sight of a despondent Neville wandering down the corridor. Making a split second decision, Harry called out to the other Gryffindor.

"Neville, what are you doing today?"

Neville jumped when Harry called out to him, and Harry began to wonder about how jumpy the other boy always was, "Harry, ummm...I'm just going back to the Tower since I can't go to Hogsmeade."

Harry glanced at the tapestry, "Do you want to help me and Sephiroth today then?"

"Sephiroth...where is.." Neville jumped again as Sephiroth stepped out from the hidden passage, dusting invisible dirt off his pants. Smiling, Harry looked from Neville to Sephiroth, ignoring Seph's muttered, 'too much like the Puppy,' and instead focusing on Neville's confused face.

"Ummm…." Neville looked back and forth between the two, "what are we doing?"

Harry merrily skipped along behind Sephiroth as he explained to Neville what they were doing. They had their primary route already planned out and from there they would spiral to other hidden passages and lay their net.

The three boys spent an enjoyable morning traipsing through the castle and re-exploring, or in Neville's case discovering, the hidden passages. They had finished the set path and were working through the additional paths by the time lunch rolled around and had decided to mark one more passageway before they went down for lunch.

Harry and Sephiroth were studying the map, attempting to decipher the cramped script that represented the password for the passageway located in the statue of the One Eyed Witch when Neville interrupted their argument, "There's someone coming."

Harry quickly wiped the map clean and was returning it to his pocket just as Professor Snape rounded the corner. The Professor's dark eyes instantly caught sight of the three boys and began looking around at the surrounding doors, paying special attention to the statue.

"Mr. Potter...one would wonder what you are doing in the castle on such a...fine day when every other Hogsmeade weekend has seen you not caring about your safety and...gallivanting out with the masses. One might think you were...up to something."

"Well, it's like you said Professor, I'm caring about my safety. Figured I would be safer in the castle then out 'on the town.' Wouldn't you agree." Harry let a smile curl his lips as he watched the muscle in Professor Snape's jaw jump.

"You have never cared about your safety, Mr. Potter, do not kid yourself into believing that I will buy your lies." Those piercing eyes swept over the students, causing Neville to cringe. Harry had faced Sephiroth and Kadaj on a sugar high at the same time, Professor Snape did not intimidate him anymore, and nothing had ever made Sephiroth flinch. "Empty your pockets. All three of you."

Harry shrugged and pulled the blank parchment and his wand from his pockets, Sephiroth was only carrying his wand and Neville only had a few chocolate frog cards in his pockets-Harry wondered where his wand was and reminded himself to look into summoning charms that worked on wands. The professor sneered and snatched the parchment from Harry's hand, turning it over in his hand.

Keeping one suspicious eye on the students, Snape pulled his wand and pointed it at the parchment.

"_**Reveal your secret!" he said, touching the wand to the parchment. Nothing happened. **_ Harry and Sephiroth shared a look; the man was much too suspicious.

"_**Show yourself!" Snape said, tapping the map sharply.**_

_**It stayed blank.**_ Harry elbowed Neville as the other boy started to hyperventilate.

"_**Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!" Snape said, hitting the map with his wand. **_

_**As though an invisible hand were writing upon it, words appeared on the smooth surface of the map.**_

"_**Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."**_

_**Snape froze. Harry stared, dumbstruck, at the message. But the map didn't stop there. More writing was appearing beneath the first.**_

"_**Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git." **_

_**And there was more…**_

"_**Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."**_

Harry, Sephiroth, and a visibly shaking Neville exchanged wide-eyed looks as the map continued to write.

"_**Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball."**_

The entire castle seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the moment when Snape would erupt. Those dark eyes were sparking with an inner fire that Harry was surprised was not an outer fire. Salvation came in the form of a slightly clueless Professor Lupin wandering by the end of the corridor.

"Professor Lupin," shouted Sephiroth, stepping in front of Harry and Neville. He continued as the man turned to where their group was standing, "would you mind coming to look at something?"

The man strolled down the corridor, joining their impromptu gathering. At the curious look, Sephiroth gestured to the parchment clutched in Professor Snape's hand, "Harry had this bit of old parchment and Professor Snape must have sensed magic on it because he told it to reveal its secrets and it started insulting him." Sephiroth opened his eyes wide, giving a fair approximation of Zack's puppy dog eyes, "Is Harry okay for having it in his pocket?"

Harry had to duck his head to keep from laughing out loud at the concerned expression that crossed Professor Lupin's face at Sephiroth's completely made-up story. The Professor took the parchment from Snape and read the messages scrawled upon it before waving his wand and murmuring a few quiet words.

"Well Mr. Crescent-Fair, I think Harry will be fine, this seems to just be a joke product from Zonko's." Harry felt his eyebrow rise at the obvious lie, both Professors seemed to know more about the map then they were letting on.

Professor Snape glared at everyone in the hallway, "I suggest you not let me catch you wandering about Mr. Potter." He shot an even stronger glare at Lupin, "and I suggest you ensure that _**he did not get it directly from the manufacturers."**_

Harry and Sephiroth shared glances as Professor Snape stormed off back to the dungeons, or wherever he went when he did not have students to terrorize. They turned expectant looks on the remaining Professor, who spoke before they could.

"_**I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago. Yes, I know it's a map," he said **_as the boys exchanged startled looks_**. "I don't want to know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, **_**astounded**_** that you didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back, Harry."**_

Harry bristled at the slight against Neville, but Sephiroth interrupted before Harry could lose his temper.

"Why did Professor Snape, think that Harry might have gotten the map from the manufacturers, and how do you know so much about it?"

"_**Because…," Lupin hesitated, "because these mapmakers would have wanted to lure Harry out of school. they'd think it extremely entertaining." **_

"_**Do you **_**know**_** them?" said Harry.**_

"_**We've met," he said shortly. He was looking at Harry more seriously than before. **_

"_**Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. I cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have thought that what you have heard when the dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect on you. Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them-gambling their sacrifice for **_an adventure outside the castle.

He walked away after that, taking the map with him and leaving a seething Harry behind. How dare that man use what Harry had told him in secret during their lessons as a guilt tactic against him. He was sick and tired of people using his parents' sacrifice against him whenever they were unhappy with what he was doing, especially when they did not even take the time to see what he was really doing.

Sephiroth took one look at the almost visibly fuming Harry and rolled his eyes, dragging Harry down to the Great Hall. After a nice lunch, Harry was in a much better mood and they were able to finish marking the rest of the hidden passages based off of Sephiroth's notebook. Upon finishing their task, the three boys set up in the library and Sephiroth helped Neville complete his homework while Harry researched wand summoning charms.

**Reviews: To everyone-Stay safe out there!**

**buterflypuss: Hello luv. (I've challenged myself to see if I can use different endearments without repeating them and without looking to see what I've done previously.)**

** She Who Cannot Be Turned: I feel Hermione would have turned Harry in if he snuck the salamander into the common room, so he took it to their room instead lol. I'm a Slytherin so the characterization of them in the books has always bugged me, cunning and ambition means you don't usually draw attention to yourself until you are ready to use it to your advantage. So the fact that they act more like a cackling pack of hyenas is annoying and I'm trying to slip a little of the real Slytherin traits into Harry's character. **

**I've actually been researching and studying what I want Harry's patronus to be, not entirely positive if I'm going to change it, but I also feel that Harry is moving out of his father's shadow and so Prongs won't be his patronus. **

**I have a group of friends that are doing the Zoom meetings too, but I keep forgetting what day it's on so I haven't attended any of those. Also weird laws are always fun to look up, we were just looking up weird vampire legends the other day while I was writing this. Like did you know in the Victorian Era vampires were commonly believed to be lesbians. Glad you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you like/liked this one just as much.**

**Enjali-I feel if Minerva wasn't there then an epic chase scene through the castle might have occurred. *Scooby Doo chase song plays in background***

**Juxshoa- Materia does exist, haven't decided on Summons and/or monsters. **


	15. Chapter 15

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Fifteen: Playing Dirty**

Hours later when Harry and Neville returned from the library, Neville happily thumbing through the new book Sephiroth had found for him that explained the uses of different plants in potions and charm work, Harry was surprised to see Ron and a red-eyed Hermione sitting together at the same table fiercely discussing something. He stood by the portrait hole trying to decide if he should approach the apparently reconciled two or use their distraction as a chance to slip up to the dorm room unseen.

Unfortunately, before he could decide, his choice was taken from him as Ron spotted him and proceeded to drag him over to the table and push him into a seat. He really needed to put on some weight or some muscle or some height, something that would prevent people from always dragging him wherever they wanted him to be, it was getting tiresome.

"Harry, where have you been? It's completely awful." Hermione was still crying and Harry found it somewhat difficult to understand her through the sniffles and tears.

Luckily Ron appeared to be more forthcoming with information as he shoved a grubby piece of parchment into Harry's hand and began to furiously whisper, "Yeah Mate, it's completely awful. Hagrid and Buckbeak lost their court case today. Hermione said that there is going to be an appeal, so we still have a chance of saving him."

Harry looked at the tear stained missive from Hagrid telling Hermione the outcome of the case and not to blame herself before raising slightly wary eyes up to his two….friends. He frowned at that thought before sharply shaking it away, now was not the time to wonder why he automatically dropped the 'best' before 'friend' when he thought about Ron and Hermione.

With a deeply indrawn, steeling breath, Harry slid the paper back across to Hermione, "Even if there is an appeal, it's not likely to go any different. Hagrid is already in bad enough standing before the court just because of who his parents are. The judges aren't likely to side with a half-giant and a creature over Lucius Malfoy, who can, and will, make their lives a living hell if they don't agree with him."

Harry kept his eyes on the table as he told Ron and Hermione the truth that they were not likely wanting to hear, but Harry and Sephiroth had discussed Buckbeak's chances at length when they first learned about the trial and both had agreed that Malfoy was likely to get his way simply because he had money, power, and influence. It was not a happy thought, but it was the way of the world and Harry had seen enough of the world to know that the outcomes do not always come out in favor of the right, but in favor of the richer/stronger.

As much as he loved Ron and Hermione, they were still blindingly naive to the way the world actually worked. Hermione put too much stock in what books and professors said, never looking beyond their advice to see if it contradicted with the way things actually worked. She was quite content to let others form her opinions for her. Ron saw everything in black and white, no room for shades of grey or understanding where the other side came from so that he could change their ideas using their own thinking. Instead he believed that shouting his opinions louder than anyone else made them the only valid option.

His time with Sephiroth and his family had opened his eyes to the idea that shades of grey did exist between the severe separation of light and dark that existed in the wizarding world. Sephiroth might act like a studious Ravenclaw, but Harry knew how sharp that tongue could turn when the other was annoyed. Kadaj was the consummate Gryffindor, always ready to throw himself into any sort of adventure, but he was vicious when defending those he considered his-Harry never got the full story from anyone, but he had heard Dudley return home bawling one day that summer and Kadaj had missed some of the blood speckled on his neck and shirt collar. Yazoo was a Slytherin if ever one existed, but the quieter of the triplets would much prefer to spend the day curled up on the couch with a book and a human footrest than plan world domination. Zack was always smiles and encouraging words, but Harry knew that the skills he was passing on to Harry and the others were born of practice, not just abstract thought. Aerith was the sweetest woman that Harry had ever met, not smothering and controlling like Mrs. Weasley could sometimes be, but Harry had seen her deftly handle her household with a benign smile on her lips and threat in her words. Loz was the only one to ever give Harry pause, but he had figured out soon enough that the third triplet, while intimidating in his size was close to Hagrid in personality and would gladly help his brother's in any scheme they came up with.

Having spent weeks observing the family from within their own walls, Harry had been shocked to realize that the mishmash of personalities created a sort of harmony within the house. No one was the single extreme of a single house, and Zack and Aerith encouraged all parts of their children's personalities equally. That did not mean that there were not rules, or that Aerith did not have a firm grip on the entire household. But in the same breath that Kadaj was scolded for rigging the staircase with a tripwire, or Yazoo was berated for convincing Loz to do all of his chores, they were also told how to better disguise the wire so that it was not spotted before it was too late and how to turn those same observation skills on other people.

When Harry had answered back to Sephiroth or Kadaj with something sarcastic, no one had looked at him strange or shocked; in fact, Zack had even complimented him on some especially good remarks. Harry had been free to express his more Slytherin traits without fear of being rejected or treated like a 'traitor to his House.' As such, Harry was not shocked by Hagrid losing the trial, and more surprised that they actually pretended to hold one instead of automatically sentencing Buckbeak to death.

Ron and Hermione however, were apparently not ready to hear Harry's semi-blunt assessment of how the world worked.

"Harry, how can you say such a thing! Hagrid is our friend and we should be doing everything we can to help him right now, _not_ accusing the courts of being corrupt and giving up," gasped Hermione as she pushed her chair back so violently that it fell to the floor as she stormed up to the girl's dorm rooms.

"She's right," scowled Ron as he too stood up from the table, "people would think that you don't care about Hagrid or Buckbeak saying stuff like that. I'm going to help Hermione look up information to help Hagrid win his appeal, don't join us if you don't really care."

Harry dropped his head into his hands with a weary sigh as Ron stomped up to their room.

* * *

At Care of Magical Creatures the next day, Hermione and Ron both scowled at Harry as he comfortingly patted Hagrid on the back as he listened to him recount the case and offered consoling words where needed. When Hagrid was not looking, Harry returned the scowl to the other two Gryffindors, though from the flinches his was much more effective than theirs. Due to the new safety measures Hagrid escorted the class back up to the castle and Harry took the opportunity to once again try and convince Hagrid to release Buckbeak into the wild, but Hagrid simply talked over Harry about how he was 'going to ensure that Buckbeak's last days were good ones.'

Harry tuned it out as Ron and Hermione hastened to reassure Hagrid that they would win the appeal and nothing would happen to Buckbeak. As much as Harry wished that was the truth, he was not going to deceive his first friend with false hope. Instead he managed to catch sight of a smug Draco Malfoy who was walking just ahead of the trio and their teacher, flanked by his ever present bookends. He began sniggering as Hagrid began to bawl once again into this tablecloth sized handkerchief.

Harry was quite content to ignore the pompous prat, as satisfying as it was to knock him down a peg or two, he had managed not to run too afoul of Snape this year and confronting Malfoy in the Entrance Hall was just begging for the potions professor to appear and give Harry detention for the rest of the year. Hermione apparently had no such qualms, or her crazy schedule had finally caused her to snap.

_**She had slapped Malfoy across the face with all the strength she could muster. Malfoy staggered. Harry, Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle stood flabbergasted as Hermione raised her hand again.**_

"_**Don't you **_**dare **_**call Hagrid pathetic, you foul-you evil-"**_

_**Hermione!" said Ron weakly, and he tried to grab her hand as she swung it back.**_

"_**Get off, Ron!"**_

_**Hermione pulled out her wand. Malfoy stepped backward. Crabbe and Goyle looked at him for instruction, thoroughly bewildered. **_

"_**C'mon," Malfoy muttered, and in a moment, all three of them had disappeared into the passageway to the dungeons. **_

Harry felt his eyes widen as Ron started to drag Hermione off to their next class, whether she had a psychotic break or not, Harry was determined not to get Hermione that mad at him.

* * *

Harry was in the library wrapping up an essay on the effects of anti-vampire legislation on the relation between the wizarding world and the vampire court when Hermione stormed into the room and slammed her book bag down on the table, completely ignoring Madam Pince's look of disapproval. She roughly jerked her Arithmancy book from her bag, before slamming it on the table as well. Harry carefully edged his chair away from the table, ready to make a quick escape if necessary, as Hermione opened the book and turned the pages hard enough to rip edges and crinkle pages.

He barely caught her mutters of, "fraudulent clairvoyant" and "batty bespeckled lunatic" as he surreptitiously began edging his supplies back in his own bag and away from the splattering ink that was flying off of Hermione's rapidly moving quill. He had never been gladder to see Sephiroth twenty minutes later and happily escaped the thundercloud of doom that was beginning to surround a furious Hermione. Although, Neville's later retelling of Hermione actually walking out in the middle of a class was quite entertaining.

* * *

Harry and Sephiroth did not see much of Neville, who they had taken to inviting to the library twice a week to work on homework-not yet willing to show him their practice room, over the Easter holidays as the teachers had decided to assign everyone copious amounts of homework. Sephiroth's system of working till they got distracted then spending fifteen minutes practicing fighting was quite effective and meant they, unlike the majority of their year, were finished with their work by the end of the weekend and were able to spend their break safely alone and relaxing in their room with only Groot, Fen, and Pyre to disturb them.

About halfway through the break, Harry also began to spend his nights in the Ravenclaw Tower in order to escape Ron and Oliver Wood. Every second that Ron was not working on his homework, then he was sitting at the table Hermione had claimed for herself-who Harry was not entirely convinced was not suffering, or about to suffer, a psychotic break as she looked more manic and frazzled each time he caught sight of her-looking up information to help Hagrid with his appeal. When Harry was in the room, Ron spent half of his time researching and making notes, and the other half of his time glaring at Harry over the top of the book.

Compared to Ron, Oliver was simultaneously better and worse. The final Quidditch match of the season would take place the weekend after Easter break and Oliver was constantly cornering the team to discuss strategies and remind everyone that they could only win the Quidditch cup if Harry caught the Snitch _after_ they already had fifty points on the board. He had repeated it so often that Harry could almost repeat the conversation word for word alongside Wood, and had even attempted it once to the great amusement of the Weasley twins.

Another reason that Harry had been stuck to Sephiroth's side like glue was the fact that after the silverette had broken an upper grade Slytherin's arm for trying to trip Harry down a set a stairs, the majority of the Slytherins were too afraid to mess with the small raven, as long as Sephiroth was with him. A few Slytherins still attempted to mess with Harry, but his reflexes were sharp and he could almost cast _Protego_ without saying a word with how much practice he was getting.

The game was to take place early on Saturday morning. By Wednesday, Harry's stomach was in so many knots because of everyone's expectations that he could not stomach even the bland toast that Sephiroth would put on his plate. Thursday, Sephiroth convinced the house elves to make a nice broth and deliver it to Harry at each meal, which was much easier to stomach than anything solid. Friday saw Harry and Sephiroth sitting knee to knee on Sephiroth's bed in the Ravenclaw tower playing Exploding Snap and discussing crazy things the triplets had gotten up to in the past. When he woke in the middle of the night to get a drink of water, Harry could have sworn he saw Crookshanks and that same giant black dog out by the Forbidden Forest, but wrote it off as his nerves causing him to hallucinate and curled back up in bed with Sephiroth.

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, a perfect day for a Quidditch match. Sephiroth had to cajole and threaten Harry into eating the bowl of broth that a House Elf had kindly brought up to the room, but he was still only able to stomach about half the bowl and a few sips of pumpkin juice. To keep him from panicking, and to help warm up his muscles, Sephiroth had Harry practice different forms while running through rune translations. The joint physical and mental stimulation meant that by the time Harry joined the rest of the team in the locker room, he did not feel quite so much like he was going to shake his bones from his body and more like his stomach was going to crawl its way out of his body, by any means necessary.

Kicking off from the ground at the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle, Harry felt his worries melt away and he wondered what had gotten him so nervous. The sky was his domain and _no one_ could beat him up here. Harry held onto that thought as Angelina scored the first point of the game in Gryffindor's favor and the Slytherins fell back on the tried and true method of cheating when they could not win by playing fair.

Harry held onto his elation at being in the air as he dodged the third Bludger to come alarming close to his head. He did not have to look at Sephiroth to know that the silverette was probably grinding his teeth to nubs in annoyance at how close many of the hits, both from Bludgers and players, had come to Harry.

As soon as Gryffindor was fifty points ahead of Slytherin, Harry began seriously looking for the Snitch, determined to end this game before someone got seriously hurt. There had already been several close calls, and at the moment he was possibly the only member of the team who would come away without bruises.

Finally, Harry caught sight of the Snitch just as Malfoy did, who was unfortunately closer since Harry had done a spectacular dive to clear the way for a Gryffindor Chaser to score. It now came down to a battle of speed and control. Harry felt the manic grin spreading across his face, but focused on flattening himself as low as possible on his broom.

_Ten meters_

The front of Harry's broom was even with Malfoy's knees.

_Five meters_

The boys were now even, neck and neck as they hurtled toward the Snitch.

_One meter_

Harry dodged the elbow aimed at his head and ducked as a Bludger once again whistled past his ear.

_There_

Harry's reaching fingers curled tightly around the struggling Snitch as he pulled his broom to a top in order to prevent himself from plowing face first into the ground. Madam Hooch's whistle was barely audible through the thunderous roar of the crowd as Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff all cheered at Harry's capture of the Snitch.

Harry laughed brightly as the Gryffindor Team performed an aerial dogpile on their youngest member. Even as the three-fourths of the school swarmed the winning team, it was easy for Harry to locate Sephiroth and the giant smile on his face.

* * *

**A.N.-To clear up any concerns about what I said with Yazoo, I completely agree with Sherlock's "People see but do not understand/observe." Watching people makes it easier to interact with them if you are not an automatically outgoing personality type. **

**Reveiws:**

**buterflypus: Hello sweetheart.**

**MMax: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I try to update at least once a week, make no promises cause life is crazy, but I try.**

**Enjali: What story are you writing? I haven't really kept up with Fairy Tail, but I remember most of the basics and found the characters interesting. I read that part in the book and could not believe that Lupin said that, I think we as a fandom tend to forget that Lupin tended to fall back on the same manipulation tricks everyone else used when it came to Harry.**

**Scififan33: So the name of Harry's blade comes from a sorta sister blade to Masamune. It's full name is Kotegiri Masamune and it was made by the same smith that Sephiroth's blade is named after. It was a full sized katana that one of its wielders had reforged to a smaller tanto size. When I was researching the smith, I felt that the story was kinda appropriate since Masamune is 7ft long and Harry has a dagger that is barely over a foot in length. Neville's punishment was also taken directly from the book and feels like a serious lack of concern for Neville's safety to me. I mean seriously, you're worried about a lunatic breaking into the school to kill a student, but you won't give another student the password to somewhere he might be relatively safe? And yes, I've always felt that Harry should have taken much more offense to everyone rubbing his parent's sacrifice in his face as a way to get him to do whatever they wanted him to do. **

**Guest: This story won't have any more characters than the ones already introduced, but the sequel will add a few more. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.**


	16. Chapter 16

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Sixteen: All Results are Final**

The week following the Quidditch final was both amazing and frustrating. Having remembered the massive party that followed Gryffindor's last win, Harry and Sephiroth had prepared for Harry to spend at least that night, if not several more, in Sephiroth's dorm room. What he had not been prepared for was the congratulations and pats on the back and praise that random students would heap on him as he walked through the halls. The attention was nice because it was for something that he had actually accomplished on his own merits, and they praised his team just as much, but it was also frustrating because he had seen these same people turn against him last year for an ability he had no choice in obtaining. Every person who congratulated him was fuel for the fire of pride in his belly and a shard of glass to the heart, because he _knew_ as soon as he did something that the wizarding world as a whole did not agree with, they would all once again turn their back on him.

The only congratulations to not be a double edged sword were Hagrid's congratulatory hug and the letter from Zack, Aerith, and the boys that he received on Monday. Each member of the family had taken the time to write a personal message to Harry in the letter and he had walked around on cloud nine for the rest of the day. Although he made a mental note to keep Kadaj and Yazoo away from Malfoy if they ever came to Hogwarts, apparently the two had taken offense to the less than civil way the Slytherins had played the match.

A few Slytherins had attempted to express their displeasure at losing the match, but Sephiroth's poisonous green glares kept all but the bravest-or stupidest-away. Those insane enough to not take the silent warning, soon found out that between Harry's grasp of Defense Against the Dark Arts and Sephiroth's ability to fight quite efficiently without a wand, the two thirteen year olds were not as defenseless as they seemed. They had yet to get in trouble because none of their attackers wanted to admit to being beaten by two third years, and no teachers had caught them in the act.

Luckily, as the week passed upcoming exams distracted everyone and Harry was able to go about his days in relative peace. Relative peace meaning he was no longer being accosted by virtual strangers in the hallways, but the reality and stress of exams were finally hitting home. After the second time Hermione exploded and threatened to curse the next person to make a loud noise in the common room while she was trying to study, Harry would swear that literal lightning bolts of pure frustrated energy were gathering in her increasingly frizzier curls.

After Percy joined Hermione on her policing of the common room noise level, Harry was glad that he had Sephiroth to help him study and they could do it elsewhere. Harry and Sephiroth were quick to snag Neville for their study group, the shy boy knew more about plants and Herbology than anyone else they knew except maybe Aerith. Sephiroth helped Neville apply that knowledge to their use in potions, such as what quality of the plant would make it most useful for achieving a certain outcome and what might make it a volatile mix with something else. He might still be terrible at the actual making of potions, but Harry would bet that his written portion would be much better this year.

Harry helped Neville with Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms. Most of the spell work for those two subjects relied heavily on intention and will power more than theory or intricate wand movements. As Neville's self- confidence grew his spell casting improved, and Harry felt he had a better understanding of the spells after explaining them in a way that made sense to Neville.

* * *

Returning to the dorm the day before exams were to start, Harry caught Ron and Hermione whispering over a piece of paper. When they realized he was there Hermione quickly hid the message under her mountain of notes and study materials, but they had not been quick enough to prevent Harry from hearing part of their whispers. Apparently, Buckbeak's appeal was to take place on the same day as their last exams, and the executioner was to be there for it.

One look at Ron's mulish expression and the angry glint in Hermione's eye and Harry continued up to the dorm room with only a shake of his head. While Harry did hold out a small glimmer of hope that Buckbeak would be saved, he also knew that Lucius Malfoy tended to get his way where the Ministry was concerned and it was obvious that Hermione and Ron were starting to see that while being unwilling to admit it. Besides, a good night's rest was more important than arguing over something that they really had no way to change.

* * *

Monday morning dawned bright and busy with Transfiguration immediately after breakfast. Hermione of course transfigured her teapot into a perfect tortoise, but Harry felt okay about his attempt- the willow pattern was barely visible on the shell. Neville's tortoise still looked like it was made of porcelain, but it moved around just fine. They found out later that Sephiroth's looked completely fine, but it apparently kept trying to stand up on its back legs and took a bite out of Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker's tortoise.

After a hurried lunch, Harry's nerves had him once again subsisting on plain toast and pumpkin juice, the Gryffindors were off to Charms for their exam. Harry's Cheering Charm was a _little_ overpowered, but it only took an hour for Ron's hysterical laughter to stop, so it was not too bad considering. He did not however like it when Ron returned and cast the same spell on him. The sudden burst of glee and peppiness felt unnatural and awkward.

Hermione and Harry left Ron after Charms and sat through their Ancient Runes exam. Harry left that exam feeling oddly relaxed and confident. He knew he had not made a perfect score, but something about the strange little symbols just made sense to him and the translations came easily. There was only one translation he was iffy on-he had either written the proper 'The man rode a horse' or he had messed up and written 'The man rode an onion.'

The next day started off with Care of Magical Creatures, possibly the easiest exam they were to take since Hagrid was so distracted with Buckbeak's upcoming appeal date that he simply had them keep a flobberworm alive for an hour. Harry had attempted to whisper reassurances to Hagrid everytime the gentle half-giant would come around to look at Harry's flobberworm, but Ron or Hermione were quick to draw his attention or speak over Harry.

He had to roll his eyes at their childishness, sure he thought Lucius Malfoy had bribed or threatened the judges into ruling against Buckbeak, but he was not mean enough to say such a thing to Hagrid, after all if anyone should understand injustices against someone simply because of what they were it would be Hagrid, he did not need a reminder of that fact.

After Care was their History of Magic exam. Harry left that exam massaging a cramp from his writing hand, apparently Sephiroth's incessant pop quiz questions had gotten some of the information to actually stick in Harry's memory, more than Professor Binn's droning lectures ever had at least.

Harry took a short nap before their Astronomy exam and was quite proud of his forethought as he watched several of his fellow Gryffindors almost nod off over their telescopes.

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts exam was the next morning and officially Harry's favorite exam ever. Professor Lupin had created an obstacle course of sorts out by the lake containing several of the creatures that they had learned about in class. Harry was the only person in their class to finish the entire course, though it had been a close thing. When faced with the boggart at the end of the course, Harry had froze for half a second as to whether he should cast _Riddikulus_ or _Expecto Patronum_, finally he had decided on _Riddikulus_ and laughed when the faux dementor changed into Malfoy and Crabbe tangled in an over large cloak like they had been at the Quidditch game.

Harry felt a little smug when Hermione made it almost all the way through the course before she burst out of the boggart chest screaming and crying about Professor McGonagall telling her that she had failed everything, if Harry could face the living embodiment of fear and succeed then the 'brightest witch of their generation' should have been just as capable.

Harry was wondering if boggarts were somehow related to dementors, or possibly even a juvenile form of a dementor. After all, dementors made you feel fear by feeding off of your happy memories leaving only the bad behind and boggarts became your greatest fear. However, logically if you opened a cupboard and your professor stepped out telling you that you failed all of your exams, you should not be afraid, you should be wondering what your professor was doing in the closet. Therefore, mused Harry, the boggart must do something similar to what a dementor does in order to cause you to feel fear instead of wondering what was going on.

Harry was still wondering about the difference between physical fears and existential fears and how a boggart even determined one's fears when he almost literally ran into a squat man wearing a green bowler hat standing at the top of the steps into the Entrance Hall.

"Ah, Harry just finishing up an exam I'm guessing. It was good to hear that you arrived safely at Hogwarts, you gave us quite a scare over the summer." rattled out the man as he vigorously shook Harry's hand. Seemingly uncaring at Harry's lack of response, or even recognition, he continued talking, "Yes, yes, it was quite good to have you safely here at Hogwarts what with all this Sirius Black stuff going on."

He cast a furtive eye over the grounds as he mentioned Sirius Black before once again continuing his one sided conversation, "But I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here," Harry was in fact _not _wondering that, but instead who the vaguely familiar man even was, "I have an important meeting with Dumbledore and was asked to witness a hearing for a mad hippogriff."

Ron and Hermione shoved Harry down a step as they pushed forward to grill the man about Buckbeak's appeal. Listening to their argument and the confused responses of the bowler wearing man, Harry was finally able to connect the voice with the one he had heard talking to the professors at the Three Broomsticks before Christmas Break and he remembered catching a glimpse of the man that night Zack brought him back to the house after blowing up Aunt Marge. The man currently being informed that creature rights were just as important as human rights by a very adamant Hermione was none other than the Minister of Magic.

Shaking his head at the look of polite confusion on the Minister's face as Hermione's rant gained steam, Harry headed up the stairs determined to escape while everyone was distracted. As he entered the Entrance Hall two men in stiff formal robes and a third man dressed in dark clothing with an axe hanging from his belt passed Harry with nary a second glance.

* * *

Defense Against the Dark Arts had been Harry's last exam of the year and he gladly took the opportunity to relax with Pyre while Sephiroth completed his own run through of the Defense obstacle course. He just hoped that Sephiroth's run in with the boggart would go better than his last one had.

With a groan, Harry sat up from where he was sprawled out on his cushion when he determined that enough time had passed for Sephiroth to have completed his final exam. The rest of their plans for the evening would depend on Sephiroth's mental state, but Harry felt like enough of his nerves had finally passed to allow him to eat a normal meal.

Harry had just stepped foot on the staircase connecting the seventh floor to the sixth when a hand wrapped around his upper arm. He tried to turn around to see who had grabbed him, but the grip was like steel bands on his arm and he was only able to turn his head to see Professor Trelawney with a vacant look in her eyes.

Before Harry could begin to struggle or call out, the Professor began to speak in a _** loud, harsh voice, quite unlike her own:**_

"_**IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT. THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE MIDNIGHT...THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER BEFORE. TONIGHT...BEFORE MIDNIGHT… THE SERVANT...WILL SET OUT...TO REJOIN...HIS MASTER…"**_

Her cryptic message complete, Trelawney released Harry's arm and wandered back down the hallway in the direction of the Divination tower. Ice slid down Harry's spine as he rushed down the staircase, determined to find Sephiroth.

Sephiroth was just coming in the front door from his Defense exam when Harry made it to the Entrance Hall, severely out of breath. The other seemed to be in a better mental state than he had been after the first time he faced a boggart, and he was definitely better off than Harry currently was.

Harry watched as Sephiroth's pale brows furrowed in concern before he quickly dragged Harry to a niche in the wall where they could talk in relative privacy. Between pants, Harry attempted to retell everything exactly as Professor Trelawney said it. He was not sure how much sense his rambling retelling actually made, but Sephiroth had a thoughtful look upon his face by the end and kept that look as he dragged Harry into the Great Hall for dinner.

Sephiroth was obviously thinking hard as he piled his and Harry's plate with food, so Harry left him to his thinking instead observing the once again rambunctious group of students. He caught sight of Ron and Hermione entering the Hall with the last group of students to come straggling in. They both kept glancing around the Great Hall and Ron was walking awkwardly with his hand wrapped around his middle.

He was wondering what those two were up to, and if he even wanted any part of it, when Sephiroth's quiet voice caught his attention, "It sounds like something big is going to happen tonight. If the prophecy is real then there isn't much we can do to stop it. If it isn't real then there is nothing we have to worry about." He shrugged his shoulders and stabbed a piece of meat on his plate, "Either way, it unfortunately appears to be a game of wait and see."

Harry nodded, Sephiroth's reasoning made sense, before pointing his fork at Ron and Hermione across the hall, "Something tells me those two are up to something that will ruin our 'wait and see' policy."

Acid green eyes narrowed as he took in the guilty cast of the others' features and the furtive glances they kept casting around the hall. Sephiroth sighed and agreed with Harry's assessment before pointedly pushing Harry's half-touched plate closer. Harry laughed and focused once more on the food on his plate, determined to deal with Hermione and Ron after he had finished eating.

When it looked like Hermione and Ron were finished eating and about to leave the hall, Harry and Sephiroth quickly left their own table and rushed out to the niche where a suit of armor once stood and hid themselves. The two Gryffindors soon left the Great Hall and hid themselves similar to how Harry and Sephiroth were.

As the Great Hall emptied and fewer and fewer people passed by, the four hidden students waited patiently in their hiding spots. Harry was just beginning to wonder if they were going to be here all night when Ron pulled Harry's invisibility cloak from under his shirt and they disappeared beneath it. Harry seethed as he watched the Main Door creak open, seemingly on its own. He knew for a fact that his cloak had been safely tucked away in the bottom of his trunk where it had been since Harry had determined it too dangerous to wear this year.

He was pulled from his rage as cool fingers grabbed his wrist and pried open his fist. Harry was surprised by the warm rivulets of blood trailing down his fingers from where his nails had bitten into his palm from clenching his fist so tight. Sephiroth's fingers were cool against the warm blood and gentle as they inspected the four crescent marks.

A pale green light glowed over his bleeding palm when Sephiroth placed them palm to palm. When he removed his hand, the marks were gone; no trace left but a last few smears of blood. Harry carefully opened and closed his hand, surprised since he did not think that Sephiroth knew any healing spells, especially ones he could do wandless and non-verbally.

Before he could begin questioning Sephiroth, they were forced to duck further back into the shadows as the Minister and the three strangers from earlier passed by their hiding spot and out the front doors.

With a curse, Harry pulled Sephiroth out of their hiding spot and through the doors as they fell closed. Ron and Hermione had yet to return with Harry's cloak and if these four were still here, that meant that Buckbeak had yet to have his trial/be executed. Which meant that there was a high chance the two Gryffindors would be caught outside with Harry's cloak, and he was not going to have the heirloom confiscated because the two thieves snuck out where they were not needed.

Quietly, Harry and Sephiroth followed the group, hanging back in the shadows to hopefully remain unseen. They stopped out of reach of the Whomping Willow and watched as Hagrid let them into his hut, their words of greeting faintly carried back to the watching pair. Harry was beginning to think that Hermione and Ron were still in the hut, or had been caught, when he caught the faint sound of talking and Sephiroth pointed to where the grass was sinking and rising, indicating that someone, or someones, invisible were walking their way.

Hermione's hiss of Ron's name and Ron's partially smothered yell of 'Scabbers' were very audible in the still night air and Harry felt his heart jump to his throat as the door to Hagrid's hut once again opened and everyone exited into the garden. The men's conversation was audible as only a distant murmur and he could only hope the same was true of Hermione and Ron's increasingly louder argument. If they got caught because one of them decided that now as they were sneaking across the grounds under Harry's stolen cloak was the best time to restart their argument, then Harry was going to strangle them with his bare hands, whether they got caught or not.

Suddenly the hollow thud of an axe burying itself in something solid rang through the air, and the branches of the Whomping Willow fell eerily still.

* * *

**Reviews:**

**buterflypuss: Hello childe.**

**Juxshoa:I think it will change more as they get older, right now the rift is just beginning and hasn't been completed just yet. I'm staying fairly close to the book right now to make sure that I don't start a radical transformation, I want it to be more gradual and seem natural, now if I'd started in OOTP I think I could get away with radical and no one question it, but they're still kinda little here and Harry was infinitely less angry here than he is later on.**

**APridefulSin: Thank you for the kind words, I hope it doesn't disappoint at any time.**

**Scififan33: I think a lot of Harry's issues later in life came from fighting himself and others, no one really accepted him for himself and so neither did he so I'm trying to head that off a little by introducing him to characters who are comfortable with all parts of themselves. Cause really if you look at Zack in the games, especially as he grows, he has a dark side that he isn't afraid to let out.**

**Enjali: When I read your review I thought it was strange how as writers we're so excited to get to the really fun and different stuff that we kinda get bored of our own set ups. This is the climax moment of this story and it is killing me to take it at a reasonable pace that doesn't feel rushed or leave big gaps that make no sense. **

**Some of the manipulation is really subtle but when you go looking for it, it's all throughout the books.**

**Snape reminds me of our goats, when it's something they want, namely their food bucket, they will follow you wherever, but if you try and call them or make them go somewhere they will go in the complete opposite direction. If he could act like an adult and let go of his grudge against James, he would be the ultimate Slytherin. And yes Dumbledore and Voldemort aren't sheep, and Harry started out one, as did his friends. I feel they really did love Harry in the books, but they often would let others(i.e. Dumbledore) do their thinking for them.**

**jenniebennie: Glad you're liking it. No kissing in this story, but possibly later on, still haven't fully decided if they are going to be platonic and really close, or romantic. **

**Lin: Glad you like Chapter Four-I absolutely despised it and the entire thing almost died there because of that chapter. None of the others have given me as much trouble as that one, but I think it's because it started the turning points of the fic.**

**vmage2: I have had a wonderful idea from your suggestion, I just need to make sure it's epic enough. Ehehehehehe**


	17. Chapter 17

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Seventeen: Answers Given=More Questions Asked**

_Suddenly the hollow thud of an axe burying itself in something solid rang through the air and the branches of the Whomping Willow fell still. _

Harry's breath caught in his throat at the thought of what had just happened to Buckbeak and how Hagrid must be feeling in this moment. No matter how long Harry knew it would most likely happen, the actual event was still very upsetting. Poor Hagrid was so tender-hearted that even being prepared, this must be devastating to him.

Sephiroth's elbow to the ribs drew Harry's attention away from his depressing thoughts and back to the moment at hand-namely that he and Sephiroth were really quite visible in the slowly rising moonlight and his two, possibly former,friends were still audibly arguing about Scabbers. In fact, they were arguing so hard that the Cloak kept shifting and revealing different body parts. Now that the execution was finished, Minister Fudge and the other Council members were sure to begin heading back to the Castle to leave. Getting caught would be bad enough, but those two getting caught with his Cloak was sure to have it confiscated and never returned.

Before Harry could decide if a direct confrontation would be too noisy or if he should simply petrify the two thieves, an orange streak shot from the base of the Whomping Willow. Ron and Hermione stumbled apart at the surprise attack, dropping the Cloak to the ground between them. Harry was just able to catch a glimpse of Ron attempting to hang onto something that was apparently struggling fiercely in his hands.

The orange blur, now identifiable as an irate Crookshanks, launched itself at Ron, causing the red head to curse and stumble back toward the quiet Willow. Hermione was attempting to call Crookshanks to her in a quiet 'whisper' and Harry bit his lip looking toward Hagrid's hut. Hopefully they were at a far enough distance that no one would hear the commotion and decide to investigate.

Ron was dancing around with both hands clutching something above his head while Crookshanks lunged at his feet and Hermione chased her cat. The group was slowly being driven closer and closer to the Willow and Harry had the _Perfectus Totalus_ spell on the tip of his tongue, ready to stun them all when they were in a good enough range that he was not likely to miss any of the rapidly moving figures, when a dark shape burst out from under the Whomping Willow and lunged at Ron's back.

Hermione's rapidly smothered scream was enough warning for Ron to fall to the ground, causing the creature to sail over his head. The snarling figure landed on all four paws and Harry and Sephiroth were able to clearly see the same pale-eyed, black, shaggy dog that had been with Crookshanks in the castle the night Sirius Black managed to get into Gryffindor Tower.

With a growl the dog launched itself again at Ron and managed to sink its teeth into the arm he had raised to protect his face. The creature may have been emaciated, but its sheer size still allowed him to drag Ron back toward the base of the tree. Crookshanks tangled himself in Hermione's legs, causing her to fall to the ground at the same time a sharp 'crack' and a muffled scream were heard from the base of the tree. Finally free of Crookshanks, Hermione too ran to the base of the tree and disappeared under it.

From the appearance of Crookshanks to the animal enabled kidnapping, only a minute had passed and Harry was happy to see his shock mirrored on Sephiroth's face when he thought to turn to the other. An insistent yowl drew their bewildered gazes to see Crookshanks standing against the roots of the tree, his front two paws braced on a knot. His tail was lashing back and forth so fast that Harry was surprised it was not working like the propeller of a helicopter and allowing the glaring beast to take flight.

Harry shrugged and sighed as he looked to Sephiroth, "Following a cat chasing a giant black dog that seems intent on eating my friend is unfortunately not the worst start of a plan I've ever had."

Sephiroth snorted a laugh and smirked, "Well, we did just say that something was about to start. Maybe the bat wasn't quite as batty as we thought."

A second yowl drew their attention back to Crookshanks who was giving his all to glaring at them.

"Yes, yes, we're coming, monster." mumbled Harry as he ran to scoop up the discarded Cloak, shooting a quick glance at Hagrid's hut as he did. He gave half a thought to running down there and collecting an adult to deal with this whole mess, but knowing his luck they would be more concerned with questioning why he was out after dark and not listen to a word he said.

Resigned to once again having to deal with something well out of his area of expertise, Harry joined Sephiroth at the base of the Whomping Willow. Finally they were able to get a clear look at the hole situated between two of the partially raised roots into which everyone had disappeared. The look of disgust on Sephiroth's face at the thought of entering the dirty hole made Harry laugh.

The tunnel was long and dark and Sephiroth was continuously catching his braid on roots and the occasional rock. By the time the tunnel began to slope upwards and they reached an open trap door, Sephiroth had his undone braid gathered in one hand to keep the ends from trailing in the dirt and Harry was snickering at the increasingly color language flowing from his friend in several different languages, for once perfectly all right with his short stature.

With a grunt, Harry lifted himself onto the dirty wooden floor and cautiously peered around at the broken furniture and boarded up windows. Harry had to hold the cuff of his robe sleeve over his nose to prevent a sneeze from escaping at the amount of dust swirling in the air, likely a result of the other's passage through the room.

Sephiroth pointed at the clean line through the dust that extended from the open trap door to the stairs located at the side of the room. Harry nodded before pulling out the Invisibility Cloak. Together they quietly snuck up the rickety stairs, Harry drawing on ten years of living with Dursleys to be as quiet as possible and silently envious of the way Sephiroth made it look easy, even with how closely they were pressed together to both fit under the Cloak.

At the top of the stairs, Harry and Sephiroth found a partially open door. Careful maneuvering allowed them to see the corner edge of a four poster bed with Crookshanks happily lounging upon it, Ron sprawled below the smirking cat-Harry knew that look was definitely a smirk, Kadaj often wore the same expression- one leg extended before him at an awkward angle and a struggling rat clutched to his chest with both hands. They could not see Hermione, but they could hear her yelling something about not being allowed to kill anyone at someone in the room.

Sephiroth pushed the door so that it swung a bit wider, allowing them to carefully edge their way into the room. Crookshanks was the only one to look up as the door creaked open, the others either too distracted or thinking a draft had caused the door to swing open.

Upon entering the room, they were able to see that the man Hermione was yelling at was a corpse-like figure with matted black hair falling in front of his face as he paced at the edge of the room, Hermione's quivering wand following his every movement. The flickering candlelight and his rapid turns and fidgeting made it hard to get a clear look at the man's face, but even still it was clear that the man was Sirius Black, and considering the lack of a giant black dog in the room, Harry could only guess that the man was similar to Professor McGonagall and could turn into an animal. Which meant that Crookshanks had been helping the mass murderer all year, and had wanted Harry here to see something if his insistence meant anything.

Taking a deep breath, Harry closed his eyes and attempted to block out Hermione's yelling and Black's insane muttering. Crookshanks had been with Black when the other had broken into Gryffindor castle, Crookshanks had also been with Black tonight when he had attacked Ron and Hermione. Sephiroth and Harry had been completely alone in the corridor when they ran into the two animals, no one had heard Professor McGonagall approaching yet. Harry and Sephiroth had also been outside without the cloak for much longer than it had taken Ron and Hermione to appear, and for all he was a menace, Harry could not make an argument that Crookshanks was unable to differentiate between Ron and Harry. Plus Sirius Black was supposedly Harry's godfather, even if he could not remember anything else about Harry's appearance; surely he would know that Harry had black hair not red. Yet Crookshanks had waited to attack until Ron and Hermione were close to the Whomping Willow, not Harry and Sephiroth who had been there longer.

_No,_ he thought as he opened his eyes and caught sight of the struggling rat Ron was clutching to his chest, _not Ron _and _Hermione. Just Ron. The same as he attacked Ron's bed that night. And the only thing Crookshanks has been determined to attack all year has been Scabbers. Which didn't get serious until _after_ we arrived on the train._

He glanced back at Black who had Ron's wand clutched in his right hand and a knife clutched in his left. He was completely ignoring Hermione and her wand, instead muttering to himself and watching Ron with pale grey eyes, a glint of madness visible in their depth. No matter which way the man turned to pace through the room, his gaze did not leave Ron for any significant length of time.

Harry grit his teeth, he was obviously missing a piece of the puzzle, a piece that he was sure would make everything make sense, but both Hermione and Sirius were on a hair trigger, and were not likely to react well to Harry and Sephiroth suddenly appearing in their midst.

The sound of shuffling was barely audible from downstairs when Hermione yelled out, _**"WE'RE UP HERE! WE'RE UP HERE-SIRIUS BLACK-QUICK!"**_

Black whirled toward Hermione shooting off a quick _Expelliarmus_ that she was unprepared to counter. As her wand landed in Black's outstretched hand and she stumbled back to stand beside a whimpering and rapidly paling Ron, Professor Lupin burst through the door.

With a quick glance, the professor took in the situation before throwing his own _Expelliarmus_ at Black with enough force to throw the convict to the ground, the wands jumping to Lupin's outstretched hand and the knife skittering across the floor to slide under the edge of the cloak. Worried about someone noticing only half of the knife being visible, Harry carefully used his foot to pull it completely under, only catching the tail end of Lupin's question to Black.

The following conversation was cryptic and made absolutely no sense to Harry, but Sephiroth's quiet intake of breath let him know that something important had been mentioned. The only thing that Harry had been able to comprehend was that Black and now Lupin were looking for someone, someone that Lupin was apparently shocked to find.

Lupin helping Black off the floor and embracing him like a brother was a bit of a shock, but not so much as Hermione blurting out that Lupin was a werewolf and accusing him of helping Black into the castle.

Learning that Lupin was a werewolf was actually a relief for Harry. The man was unusually kind for an adult, and Harry had always felt a little bad that he was uncomfortable around him, after all the man had never actually done anything to make Harry uncomfortable. But if Harry had somehow been sensing the wolf side of Lupin, that might explain the uneasy feeling and made him feel much better that his instincts were picking up on things that he had missed and not just trying to drive him crazy. The accusation about helping Black into the castle was easily ignored since Harry had already figured out that Crookshanks was the one responsible for that.

He was a bit miffed that Lupin had taken the map away from him when he learned that the other had helped make it, but Ron and Hermione's confused faces were amusing as well as Lupin's shocked face that they had no idea what he was talking about. Apparently he had expected Harry to share everything with the two and that they would believe the fact that the map showed an additional person with their group without question. Harry and Sephiroth did to a degree but Hermione and Ron continued to argue.

Harry was getting ready to rip the Cloak off and demand for someone to just say a name already instead of being purposely vague when Sirius Black took a shaky step forward and pointed at Ron's chest.

"_**That's not a rat," croaked Sirius Black suddenly.**_

"_**What d'you mean-of course he's a rat-" **_answered Ron, clutching Scabbers even tighter.

"_**No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard."**_

"_**An Animagus," said Black, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."**_

_Finally_, thought Harry, watching Scabbers' wild struggles pick up a notch.

* * *

**A.N.- First off the reactions to Ron and Hermione stealing the cloak have been hilarious and unanimously against the theft and for Harry's semi-violent reaction. I did not realize everyone would accept that so quickly/happily. Second, has anyone else found it odd that in the book/movie it's explained that the tunnel was used by the staff to bring Lupin to and from the Shrieking Shack? I mean you have all this magic, surely a portkey would work better and not have a way for Lupin to get out while in his werewolf form, plus I can't imagine too many of the teachers were thrilled with having to climb into a dirty tunnel that several probably had to stoop in and walk possibly a mile or two just to drop off a student. It makes no logical sense. **

**Reviews:**

**buterflypuss: Hello Little One.**

**Juxshoa: I'm kinda leaning toward including Neville more, not sure if they'll reach trio levels, but I feel like Neville brings out Harry's kind side and Neville helping Harry brings out his brave side. Plus he never gets enough credit.**

**Kyred: Wow, everyone really loved that scene didn't they. Glad you're enjoying it.**

**Scififan33: Going off of how they act in Order of the Phoenix, I don't think they ever consider how things will effect Harry, just what it will do to them. **

**deathbykitsune: Glad you're liking it, I'm giving myself till Order of the Phoenix to decide what is going on with Harry and Sephiroth's relationship, cause honestly at this point, I don't know...not a clue.**

**VioletZap: Glad you're enjoying it. Revenge will be sweet, but unfortunately will take a while to get to. And yes, Ron and Hermione have always struck me as entitled and self-serving. Later on when they grow up it's not as bad, but they started off pretty bad.**

**Enjali: Oh, I have so many plans for that trunk, it's going to be so good.**

**Tsumujikaze Yumi: Thank you! And you take care too! This is the start of the evolution; things will begin to pick up as everyone grows. **

**Me (guest): Yes, yes he is.**

**tocasia: Glad you're enjoying it and that you think it's fun! **


	18. Chapter 18

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Eigtheen: Puzzle Pieces Found**

After Black's accusation of Scabbers being an animagus named Peter Pettigrew, you could have heard a pin drop. Even the Shrieking Shack itself seemed to be holding its breath, other than an oddly muffled creak from beyond the door.

The calm was broken as Ron clutched Scabbers even tigther to his chest and started yelling how Black was deranged and Lupin was a traitorous lunatic. Lupin was attempting to reason with Ron while Hermione was spouting facts about Animagi and all being registered at the Ministry. Black was oddly quiet, but his crazed stare was fixed on the wildly struggling rat and what little muscles he still retained were tensed and ready for the opportunity to attack.

With a wild twist that would have broken the spine of anything other than a rat or a cat, Scabbers managed to break free of Ron's hold and begin a mad dash toward an escape. Ron leapt after his pet, completely forgetting about his broken leg until it refused to bear his weight. Harry was unsure if Hermione had attempted to catch Scabbers or Ron, either way they ended up sprawled on the ground with simultaneous yells, completely missing Scabbers in the process.

Sirius had launched himself after the fleeing rodent with a howl more appropriate for his animagus form than his current human one, knife hand leading his charge. Lupin snagged the back of Sirius' tattered prison shirt, shouting something about, "Not this way!"

If the door had not been thrown open hard enough for it to rebound off of the wall and rain dust down on everyone, then Harry was fairly certain that no one would have noticed it opening to reveal Professor Snape standing in the doorway, wand drawn and aimed at the two standing adults, a fearsome scowl on his face.

Harry had just enough time to roll his eyes and share an exasperated look with Sephiroth, before stepping out from under the cloak, and in one smooth motion, summoning Kotegiri and throwing it forward to land right before Scabbers' fleeing form. While not a true throwing weapon, Harry had practiced this move enough times that he had no problem making the throw and ensuring he did not hit the animal. Crookshanks, who had given chase along with everyone else, took advantage of Scabbers' moment of shock to tackle him and pin him to the floor with one heavy paw.

The flash of Kotegiri traveling through the air and the sudden appearance of two more people in the room caught everyone's attention, and Sephiroth's quick application of a silencing charm meant everyone was left unable to yell as Harry calmly approached Crookshanks and lifted the still wildly struggling, but now wheezing, Scabbers into the air by his tail.

Harry's sneer of disgust could have rivaled Snape's as he turned toward the momentarily stunned group, Scabbers held out at arm length to keep him from getting any purchase, or having a place to bite.

"For a bunch of adult wizards, and the supposed brigthest witch of our generation, you are all acting like a bunch of idiots." Harry's green eyes locked briefly with each person present until they landed on a rapidly purpling Snape-who was now devoid of his wand, Harry could only assume it was Sephiroth's doing since he had not seen it happen, "I'm sure there is an easy enough way to prove if Scabbers is indeed Peter Pettigrew."

Harry rolled his eyes, as everyone instantly began yelling again, or attempted to, they seemed to have forgotten the silencing spell on them. He huffed through his nose as he used his left hand to point his wand at Ron and Hermione.

"_Perfectus Totalus._" he intoned with an almost lazy flick of his wrist, watching as both teenagers snapped straight as a board, Hermione falling back on top of Ron from where she had attempted to stand.

He caught it out of the corner of his eye as Sephiroth waved his wand and Snape was wrapped head to toe in tightly binding ropes, his fiery dark eyes the only thing left visible. Equally intense green eyes turned from their individual tasks to lock on Lupin and Black. Lupin's yellow/gold eyes were widened in shock, but Black's stormy grey were fixated on where Harry had Scabbers suspended in the air.

"Now," began Harry, ignoring the oddly peaceful Black in order to focus on his unbound professor, "is there or is there not a way to reveal an animagus." He scoffed as Lupin once again began trying to talk, just based off of his gestures and the amount that he was trying to say, Harry could tell that he was not simply answering the question.

"Professor," Sephiroth took over, lightly tapping the kneeling Professor with his foot, "we are in the presence of one, possibly two, wanted criminals; a Professor who is likely to give us detention for the rest of our Hogwarts career, and one of your students is injured, possibly gravely so. We do not have time for you to be nattering on about inconsequential things. A simple nod yes or no will suffice for an answer."

Lupin took a moment to look around before giving a very cautious nod.

"Good, then Sephiroth will un-silence you and you will cast the proper spell." Harry replaced his wand with Kotegiri and leveled the gleaming blade at first Lupin then Black, "however, that is the only thing you will do, attempt anything else and you will be silenced and bound just like Snape. And you will not make any moves at all, Black, or the dementors will not get a chance with you."

Lupin's eyes continuously grew wider as Harry completed his speech, but Black simply switched his insane gaze from Scabbers to Harry and allowed a smirk to grace his features before nodding in assent to Harry's demands.

Sephiroth leveled his wand at Lupin and kept it trained on the Professor as he pointed his own wand at Scabbers, who had apparently given up hope of escaping Harry's grasp and instead dangled almost lifelessly from his grip.

"_Revelio._" Lupin twirled his wand in a small circle before slashing it quickly down and to the side. As his spell finished, Scabbers' tail began to shrink back into his body and sounds of distress began to rise from the convulsing rodent as it dropped to the floor and began to spasm. Fur receded as the body became thicker and larger, arms and legs clad in faded pants and a grimy shirt became visible. Harry felt the sneer once again curling his lips as the beady wet eyes turned upward to his face and pleas for mercy began to spill from still rodent-like features. Before Black's patience could be tested, Harry reversed his grip on Kotegiriand rapped the rat-turned-man on the temple hard enough to instantly form a goose-egg and knock him out cold.

Harry was beginning to think that shock was going to become Lupin's default expression as he looked upon Harry, but the switch to disgust and betrayal when looking at the man, Peter Pettigrew if Black was to be believed, was not faked as far as Harry could tell.

Sephiroth edged past Harry to nudge the unconscious Peter with his toe before once more waving his wand in a circle and casting the same binding spell on Peter that he had previously cast on Snape. They shared a long look before Harry nodded and stepped back, allowing Sephiroth to take the lead now that things were beginning to make more sense.

"This is how we will do things. Sna...Professor Snape, if you would be so kind as to levitate possibly-Peter here back to the castle, then Professor Lupin can levitate Ronald to keep him from further injuring his leg. Hermione can go first to light the tunnel and we shall go last keeping an eye on Mr. Black who shall walk behind Lupin." stated Sephiroth as he slowly began unbinding Snape while removing the silencing charm on the room.

"And why...Mr. Crescent-Fair...do you believe I shall do that." hissed Snape as his mouth was uncovered.

"Because," drawled back Sephiroth in his driest tone, "if your interactions this year are any indication then you hate Professor Lupin, and your glare and threats upon entering this room were directed strongly to Mr. Black. Mr. Black and Professor Lupin were friends in school based upon their own admission, and you do not go to the trouble of attempted murder of a third party if you do not have a strong reason for it, such as the betrayal of a friend; therefore by extension your animosity will be extended to Mr. Pettigrew. So whoever ends up with the dementor's kiss by the end of the night should please you, yes?"

Harry used the distraction of removing the full body bind from Hermione and Ron to cover up his laugther as he watched Sephiroth expertly handle the prickly Head of Slytherin House. With a sneer, Snape retrieved his wand that Sephiroth was holding out to him and used it to none-to-gently levitate the bound Pettigrew into the air.

Without the silencing charm on him, and with Pettigrew back in human form and 'captured,' Sirius Black was now jumping around the room like a hyper puppy, carefully helping to pull Ron to his feet so that Lupin could help onto the conjured stretcher and talking a mile a minute to Harry about how much like his father he was and how it was no surprise he was a Gryffindor with all that courage. Harry had to snort as he carefully folded the Cloak and put it away in his pocket, if he was the consummate Gryffindor that Sirius was accusing him of being, then they would all still be standing around listening to everyone tell their story instead of leaving this place and finding someone to listen who could actually change things.

A shell shocked Hermione led the group through the tunnel, her lit wand allowing them to see enough not to stumble or trip too badly. Snape and his captive followed along, Pettigrew's bound body often bouncing off the walls or ceiling as Snape prodded him along with his wand. In contrast, Lupin was much gentler as he carefully guided Ron's conjured stretcher through the cramped space. Sirius was a ball of energy, bouncing back and forth from bugging Lupin to pestering Harry.

Before he had met Sephiroth and his family, the man's continuous offers of a home and the tales of the pranks they would pull and the adventures they could have might have been appealing. But when comparing Zack's hyper-activity to Sirius' it was easy to see the madness barely covered by his exuberance. Even if they managed to clear Sirius' name in the next few hours, Harry doubted the man would be sane enough to truly 'raise' him and look after him.

_But,_ he mused as he watched Sirius bound back up to pester Lupin, _maybe if he does gain custody of me we can live by Sephiroth and the others._

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they climbed from the dismal tunnel and into the fresh night air, pearl-like beams lighting everything in pale, shifting shades as the full moon peaked over the swaying tree tops.

* * *

**A.N.-Sorry this chapter took so long to get out, but the week before last we were called back into work. I'm a school teacher and it was depressing to shut down my classroom without my kids there to make the clean up both a hassell and fun as they run around wanting to do things to help. So last week I was too emotionally and physically drained to work on any of my stories. Then last week I manged to sunburn 90% of my body, have a severe allergic reaction to the emergency burn cream (joy to my weird biology), and spend days in agony burning from the outside in. After that I had to deal with a different recurring health problem, but now I'm back and quite happy to keep working on this.**

**Reviews:**

**buterflypus- Hello, munchkin. **

**APridefulSin-A little of the chaos has been unleashed, not as much as is probably deserved, but a little.**

**Scififan33-I have an idea for continuing the story in both relationship plot lines, so I'm kinda leaving their interactions open for interpretation until I decide which I actually want. I hope this is a good beginning of the reaction for taking the cloak.**

**Enjali-I've always wondered if the Cloak has a masking element to it that blocks scents because I don't remember an instance of them being caught under it for something other a leg or something sticking out or being heard. It's weird. I feel Harry is saving up the yelling for when he's alone without the adults, because he still doesn't quite trust them.**

**Juxshoa-Glad you liked the last chapter! I have plans for Pettigrew, he'll get what's coming to him.**

**Guest-Glad you're enjoying the story and the character progression. There will definitely be more family interaction later on in the sequels. **

**Kerrowe-Yes, it's going to be very AU with the inclusion of parts of the FF7 cast. I'm not sure I understand your comment on Chapter 4, but I'm guessing it's in reference to something Ron or Hermione did. **


	19. Chapter 19

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Nineteen: Predators and Prey**

As the moon's gentle rays peeked out from over the dark arms of the forest. Ron's floating stretcher fell to the ground with a thud and a resounding yell of pain as his broken leg was once again jostled.

Harry was just able to catch a glimpse of Remus Lupin staring transfixed at the slowly appearing moon, before Sirius Black shoved him backwards with a bruising push to his chest. The push caused him to collide with Sephiroth who was climbing out of the tunnel and sent them both tumbling down to the ground, collecting more bruises as they bounced off the hard roots of the Whomping Willow.

Harry and Sephiroth paused in their efforts to disentangle themselves from the roots and each other as a savage growl rent the night air to be answered by a deep bark. The shove and ensuing struggle had knocked Harry's glasses eschew making everything blurry and out of focus, but he was still able to make out the dark form of Professor Snape standing protectively over Ron's prone form with Hermione bent over him helping him up. Pettigrew's was barely visible from where Snape had dumped his still bound form out of the reach of the Whomping Willow's branches, thanks to the moon reflecting off of his pale skin.

Closer to Harry and Sephiroth, and between them and Snape, was Sirius, back in his animagus form a rumbling growl emanating from his chest in an ever rising and falling cadence.

Finally freeing his hand from where it had been pinned between Sephiroth's shoulder and a root, Harry straightened his glasses out and instantly wished that he had not. Between Snape and Sirius loomed a twisted form. If Hermione had not already accused Lupin of being a werewolf, then Harry would not know what he was looking at since there was nothing wolf-like in this creature's appearance.

Half-bipedal and half-quadruped, the creature shuffled on legs too long for walking on all fours while front paws barely brushed the grass as the curved spine kept it from standing completely upright. The skin was grey with patches of mangy fur growing in tufts down the back and in the places where teeth and claws could not reach. The face was vaguely canine, but the teeth were too long and protruding to allow the muzzle to close completely, causing slobber to dangle in shimmering ropes from the open maw. The tail was ropey and reminded Harry more of a kangaroo's tail used for balance while upright than a dog's tail.

The burning yellow eyes flickered rapidly between the whimpering Ron, who Hermione was frantically attempting to hush with a steady stream of partial whispers, and the steadily approaching Grim that was continuing its rumbling growl in an attempt to drown out all other noise. Survival instinct kicked in strong in Harry's brain as those yellow eyes flickered over his and Sephiroth's tangled form as it observed the steadily approaching Grim, skipping directly from 'fight-or-flight' to 'freeze and pray we're not eaten'. Harry had always been able to vaguely sense the predator behind Lupin's amber gaze, but being faced with the true beast was a much more horrifying experience.

The creature slowly swung its head toward Professor Snape, Ron, and Hermione-fear finally freezing Ron's vocal cords and ending Hermione's rambling-Harry was unsure, but he was fairly certain that Snape's wand quivered for a moment in his grasp, before he gained a better grip on it and aimed it squarely at Lupin's muzzle. Before he could get a spell off, Sirius launched himself at Lupin, colliding with the hunched shoulder and attempting to gleaming teeth around the vulnerable neck.

Harry and Sephiroth quickly used the distraction of the ensuing fight to right themselves, however the fight was still between them and Snape, who had once again levitated Ron's stretcher into the air and was slowly herding Hermione and the stretcher behind himself and closer to the castle. Black fur was flying through the air as Lupin managed to get a paw under the attacking dog and send him flying toward the Forbidden Forest. Everyone standing froze in the eyes of a predator hunting for its next meal.

Decision apparently made, the increasingly salivating werewolf took one lumbering step toward Harry and Sephiroth-apparently deciding they were an easier target than the fully-grown wizard-when the creak of wood moving at high speed caused everyone-werewolf included-to pause and look up.

While everyone had been distracted the Whomping Willow had apparently awoken from its frozen state and took offence to so many people being so close to it. A thick branch came close to braining Lupin, but werewolf reflexes allowed for the hit to miss. Harry wished he could say Seeker reflexes also kept the hit aimed for him from hitting, but unfortunately that was not to happen.

A fist sized branch caught Harry in the chest, right where Sirius had pushed him earlier, and tossed him through the air to land like a rag doll outside the range of the flailing limbs, but even farther from the castle than he had started. Too much experience told him that the crack he had heard when the limb connected was the fracturing of one, or multiple, of his ribs, and the slight pain when he attempted to inhale and re-inflate severely bruised lungs let him know that it was only a fracture and not a break.

Unfortunately, the throw had once again drawn the werewolf's attention, and equally unfortunately Harry was now beyond the range of both Snape and the Whomping Willow, and so was apparently the perfect target for dinner.

He knew it was a stupid thing to do. He knew from Harry Hunting and visits from Aunt Marge with Ripper that running only encouraged the others to chase and made what happened after getting caught even worse. But with the breath knocked out of his very lungs and pain radiating from his chest in pounding waves, Harry's rational brain decided to take a few minutes vacation and allow his animal brain time to come out and direct things, and animal brain decided that running into the Forbidden Forest and turning his back on the _giant predator_ was the smart thing to do.

Fortunately, as they traveled under the dark grasp of the twisted trees of the forest, Harry's rational brain decided to reassert its dominance and directed his feet to the areas with the most underbrush and low hanging limbs. Harry wiggled and crawled and scrapped his way through the dark tangle of bushes, briars, and who-knows-what else until he was safely ensconced in a darkened cave where the roots of one tree had entwined with the trunk of a fallen tree.

Harry curled himself in as tight a ball as his protesting ribs would allow and buried his face in his cupped hands in an attempt to stifle his panicked breathing. He could hear Lupin shuffling around outside his hiding place attempting to find a way into Harry's hiding spot. In that moment he knew exactly what a rabbit felt when it knew that it was cornered by the fox.

There was nowhere for him to go, nothing to do except wait and see if Lupin would grow weary of trying to get him and leave...or if the werewolf would manage to gain entrance to Harry's small haven and eat him. Time became meaningless as his breaths became harsher and his heart rate continued to climb in fear and the scratching and snorts of an predator that knew its prey was cornered became ever louder.

Suddenly a howl rent the night air from deeper in the forest. All was quiet as the last echoes faded before Lupin released an answering howl and the sound of heavy footsteps disappeared into the darkness. Harry felt the shakes settle into his bones as the adrenaline and fear drained slowly and then all at once from his body.

He was shaking too hard to move from his hiding spot, and he was glad he did not when the snapping of a twig alerted him that someone, or some_thing_ else had found his hiding spot. All of his muscles locked up and he felt his breath freeze in his lungs as the underbrush obscuring his hiding place began to shift. His vision was beginning to tunnel and he felt himself beginning to pass out when a pale hand broke through the blind and landed on his shoulder.

Harry was able to contain his automatic scream, but he was not able to prevent the wild punch he sent into Sephiroth's shoulder, a punch that did not even faze the older boy as he was once again attempting to untangle his long silver hair from where it had knotted around a limb.

"What are you doing!?" hissed Harry as he slowly drew in several deep breaths to replace the oxygen he had lost when he forgot to breathe.

"I should ask you the same thing," grumbled Sephiroth as he finally managed to free his hair and turned a piercing look on Harry, "Honestly; out of three options you decide to run to the one option that could possibly be _worse_ than facing a hungry werewolf."

"Well, I couldn't have very well run past it...him...whatever," argued Harry as he allowed Sephiroth to pull him out of his hiding spot and up to stand on shaky legs, "to make it to the castle, and I didn't very much feel like getting either killed by the Whomping Willow or trapped with it...him…*growl*...**whatever** in the tunnel! **Besides**, it's somewhat hard to think when you are being looked at like you're a juicy steak."

Harry could feel a pout forming as Sephiroth simply gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look and began to lead him out of the forest. Neither boy spoke as they walked, more interested in listening for Lupin or any other creatures that inhabited the forest-Harry had not forgotten about Aragog and his nest and was not sure he could survive a run in with any of them in his current mental state-but Harry could tell by the way Sephiroth hand kept tightening around his before releasing slightly, only to do it all again, that the Ravenclaw was probably preparing an Aerith level rant about stupidity and putting oneself in danger for once they were out of the forest.

* * *

The trees were beginning to thin, allowing the bright moonlight to filter down to the forest floor, when the first wave of chill passed them. They had just stepped into a clearing around a small lake when their breath began to fog in the air as though it was mid-December and not early June. They had just recognized Sirius Black laying whimpering in the center of the clearing when the lake began to freeze, the ground was covered in frost, and a piercing scream and a plea for mercy tore through Harry's head, forcing him to his knees.

Only Sephiroth's arm around his shoulder allowed Harry to make it to Sirius' collapsed form before he too had an unceremonious meeting with the ground. From the ground he could see what looked like every dementor that was guarding the school, plus a few more, swarming and diving above the lake. The twisting mass of dark, tattered cloaks was making Harry motion sick as the accompanying chill settled into his bones and my mother's last moments replayed in his head.

Sirius was too far gone in his own mind to be of much help and Sephiroth was standing guard over Harry and Sirius, but only a pale mist was rising from the end of his wand, a wand that Harry noticed through his pain was shaking in an unsteady hand.

Taking a deep breath, Harry forced himself to his knees and attempted to drag up the happiest memory he could find.

'_Expecto Patronum'_ the words would not come out of his mouth.

"_Ex….Expecto Patronum" _his teeth were chattering too hard to say it clearly,

"_Expecto Patronum"_ a silver mist flowed from his wand before dissipating on the ground.

"_Expecto Patronum"_ nothing this time, not even a lightening of the end of his wand.

"_Expecto…"_ this attempt was cut off as a dementor swooped down from the swarm and extended a skeletal hand toward his face.

Pain exploded in his head and his vision tunneled onto the dark abyss under the dementor's hood as that extended hand slowly withdrew and began to lower the tattered piece of cloth.

Brilliant white light and soothing green exploded across Harry's vision as the dementor flew backwards with a screech of pain. Black feathers blocked out the overpowering brilliance as cool hands caught his body as he slipped to the side, unaware that he was doing so. Fear filled green, a similar shade to the green floating around mixed with the white was the last thing Harry registered before complete darkness overtook his vision.

* * *

When Harry next awoke it was to the dim luminescence of the Infirmary Hall at night, a sight he was unfortunately all too familiar with. He could feel the tight bindings of wrappings around his ribs and taste the remnants of a pain potion on his tongue-again something he was all too familiar with.

With a grunt of effort, he levered himself up on his elbows and searched blindly on the nightstand for his glasses, surprised when they were not automatically handed to him by Sephiroth. He was even more surprised when he realized that Sephiroth was not beside him in the infirmary, either in a chair or a bed. Ron was in the bed across from his, his leg wrapped in several layers of bandages and held in the air by a floating loop of bandage. Hermione was at the redhead's side, one of his hands clutched in hers as though it was her lifeline.

The noise of him moving must have alerted her that Harry was awake, because Hermione looked up before launching herself at Harry with a gasp and burying her face in his chest as tears began to pour from her eyes.

A girl crying was uncomfortable at the best of times, but at the moment it was even worse because Harry was torn between being a gentleman, and simply dumping her on the ground to cry by herself for stealing his father's cloak. Before the impulse for bodily harm could win out, Hermione separated from his chest with a gasp and clutched at his shoulders, giving him a small shake in the process.

"Harry, it's terrible...the Minister won't listen to us and Professor Lupin is still in the forest and Professor Snape disappeared and the Headmaster is trying but he just won't listen to what we say and Harry!"

"Hermione," broke in Harry when it seemed like her rambling would go on longer, "what are you talking about? Where is Sephiroth?"

"Oh, Harry, it's terrible the minister is insisting on giving Sirius Black the dementor's kiss."

* * *

**A.N.- We just got two new kittens, so as I'm attempting to write this chapter, I have one of them attempting to eat me, my reference book, my keyboard, my phone, and its own tail. This is when it's not walking across my keyboard and turning on caps lock. SMH.**

**Reviews:**

**buterflypus: Hello mon cheri. (I've been reading x-men and Gambit has gotten to me)**

**Scififan33-Not sure if this counts as better...really not sure.**

**Juxshoa-I hope so too, I really do...then again I know my twisted mind and where I'm headed in the next book...so...**

**Sephiroth'sGhost- Glad you're enjoying it! Coming up on the big finale in two to three chapters so hopefully it continues to excite.**

**Enjali-See you're the reason I'm going to have to make an outtakes fic of this story because you say things and alternate storylines pop up in my head. Lol. I hope the handling of the werewolf meets your liking, I described him based off of what I remember him looking like in the movie and how disappointed I was in that transformation-he never looked like a werewolf to me in that movie.**

**Jenniebennie-It's not sad that you want things to work out nice for people, unfortunately I'm not always the nicest author. And yes, brightest witch Hermione might be, but she has yet to learn that books don't always contain all answers. **

**Guest (me)-Eloquent but true.**

**Guest (blackesparrow)- ...possibly...automatic reaction on Harry's part wouldn't have been intentional...yet**


	20. Chapter 20

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Twenty- Time for Trust, Time for Truth**

"_Hermione," broke in Harry when it seemed like her rambling would go on longer, "what are you talking about? Where is Sephiroth?"_

"_Oh, Harry, it's terrible the minister is insisting on giving Sirius Black the dementor's kiss."_

"Hermione that doesn't answer…" the door of the infirmary swinging open to allow Headmaster Dumbledore entrance interrupted Harry's repeated question.

"Professor!" shouted Hermione launching herself at the aged Headmaster. Harry followed at a more sedate pace, knowing he would not be able to get a word in edgewise with the way Hermione was going on about all that had happened that night and truly not feeling like aggravating his wounds more than they already were. Potions were awesome and all, but they still took time to work completely.

Harry managed to get close enough to the conversing pair to not have to shout his questions in time for Hermione's retelling to run out of steam-or just breath, Harry was unsure if she had stopped once during the entire narrative for something as mundane as breathing-however the Headmaster took over before Harry could once more begin questioning where Sephiroth was-a very logical question in his opinion since the last things he could remember were running from a werewolf and then being surrounded by dementors.

"_**Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady-entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife-without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence."**_

"Wait, where has Pettigrew gone? Professor Snape had him…"

"_**What we need,"**_ interrupted Dumbledore, _**"is more time."**_

"_**But-" Hermione began. And then her eyes became very round, "OH!"**_

At the same time Harry could feel his already strained control on his temper begin to completely unravel as he half-yelled, "What we need is to find Sephiroth and obviously Professor Snape cause that….that…._rat_ could not have escaped from him without help. Something must have happened to him."

Harry could feel his eye begin to twitch as Hermione and Dumbledore _both_ ignored his, completely logical, questions/concerns in favor of the Headmaster telling Hermione where Sirius Black was being held and warning her repeatedly about obeying the law and _not being seen._

Harry grumbled to himself as he limped back to 'his' bed-three years and he had been in the stupid infirmary enough times to actually lay claim to a bed, lay claim to a bed well enough that even when he was brought in unconscious Madam Pomfrey put him in it. Finding his wand on the nightstand where he normally put it-once again too often in the infirmary of the supposed 'safest place in Great Britain' for that to be a habit-he quickly snatched it up and began to march, well more like quickly shuffle 'jog' to the doors that the Headmaster was just closing behind his retreating back.

The 'thud' that came with the closing of the heavy doors was almost loud enough to cover the quiet _snick_ of the lock being slid into place, but Harry's sharp ears, a necessity from living with the Dursleys, were able to pick up the noise.

"What...why has he locked the door...what is he…" began Harry as quickly tried pulling the door handle to see if what his ears had picked up was truly what had happened. When the door refused to budge he drew his wand, ready to cast _Alohamora, _because surely Madam Pomfrey would throw a fit if the Headmaster cast a spell to keep the door locked and happened to prevent any injured students from getting to her.

Before he could cast more than _Aloha_, he registered the sensation of a body standing entirely too close to his unprotected back and a chain of some kind-small and delicate, and _almost_ non-threatening- slipped around his neck and the dim colors of the nighttime infirmary ward began to swirl around him. A wind that should not exist in the enclosed area picked up and blew his hair into his eyes, carrying with it the muffled sounds of a multitude of voices. The sensations became so disorienting that Harry was forced to close his eyes before the contents of his stomach made a reappearance.

He had just enough time to register the lack of wind and the feel of sunlight on his face before he was unceremoniously shoved to the side and a hand was placed over his mouth. The culprit of all of the manhandling revealed herself to be Hermione when he opened his eyes. Growling, he wrestled her, surprisingly strong, grip from his face and turned his second best glare on her where she was leaned against the door of the broom cupboard that she had pulled them into, listening to what was going on outside.

"Hermione, what have you…"

"Shhh, if I'm right then that should be Ron and myself leaving to go see Hagrid, and I'm assuming you were close behind us."

That eye twitch came again as he was once again interrupted, "Hermione…"

"Shhhh, honestly Harry do you want to get us caught?" interrupted Hermione, once again, as she, once again, attempted to put her hand over Harry's mouth.

"Well maybe," growled Harry as he snagged Hermione's flailing hand by the wrist in an iron grip, "if you take the time to actually _explain_ what is going on I _won't_ get us caught."

Hermione got a sheepish expression on her face as Harry's admonishment, but he was quick enough to catch the brief flair of annoyance in her eyes before she started explaining.

"Well if you had been paying any attention Harry then you would know that Headmaster Dumbledore was telling us how to rescue Sirius. We used my Time Turner to go back three hours to before everything happened and we can use that time to rescue Sirius."

"And what _exactly _is a Time Turner?" questioned Harry, attempting-and probably failing-to only allow his confusion and not his roiling anger to show in his voice. Hermione's look of haughty superiority did not exactly help in his endeavor.

"Honestly Harry, haven't you been wondering how I've managed to get to all of my classes this year? A Time Turner is a device that turns back time an hour for every turn you give it. Because of the danger of using them-such as seeing yourself or messing up a pivotal part in the timeline-the Ministry strongly regulates who can use one."

"And they gave you one...to go to classes?" Hermione was entirely too smug at Harry's question, obviously thinking he was praising her instead of once again questioning the sanity of all of the adults in his life. They were all insane not to question giving a _thirteen _year old a highly regulated magical item just so that she did not have to actually choose which classes to take.

"Of course, after all I need to take all of the classes that I can. Now come on," she answered grabbing Harry's wrist and dragging him out of the cupboard and toward the Entrance Hall doors, "we need to sneak down to Hagrid's hut…"

"Hermione…"

"We're going to need to avoid you and Sephiroth, so if you could tell me where you both were hiding that could help us…"

"Hermione…"

"Professor Dumbledore said we could save more than one innocent person if we were careful, so I can only assume that means Buckbeak…

"HERMIONE…"

"but everyone is right there when Buckbeak is executed so it will be extremely difficult to get there without being seen…"

"**HERMIONE!"** yelled Harry as he finally managed to tear his wrist out of Hermione's grasp, causing her to stumble to a stop, both physically and verbally.

He quickly spoke up before she could start up again, "Would it help if we used my invisibility cloak?"

"Well yes," began Hermione with an exasperated sigh, "but we don't have it with us now do we?"

"You might not," snorted Harry, "but _I _picked it up after you dropped it. You know, after you _stole _it."

Harry grit his teeth as Hermione rolled her eyes and held out her hand imperiously for the Cloak, "Harry, we didn't _steal_ the Cloak, but we needed it to go see Hagrid and we didn't have time to ask you for it. We knew you would have said yes if we could find you. Now come on we really do need to hurry, at this rate we should arrive right as my previous self and Ron are leaving."

Harry once more pushed the anger down before he could explode all over Hermione about how there is a very big difference between _asking_ to borrow something and _assuming _you could borrow something. From the set of her features, Harry could tell that any kind of reaction would be summarily dismissed and instead send Hermione into a lecture about sharing with friends and it would somehow devolve from there into obeying those in authority. Besides, since no one would answer his questions, Harry guessed going along with Hermione's inane plan would be the best way to _find_ his own answers.

So instead of completely losing his temper, Harry simply pulled the Cloak out of his pocket and helped Hermione to have it cover both of them. Quietly and carefully they went down the castle grounds, being extra careful when they passed where Harry and Sephiroth were hiding. It was weird to Harry to see himself standing there beside Sephiroth, but it was even weirder when Sephiroth's piercing green eyes briefly landed on the concealed duo and Harry was positive that they had been spotted. Fortunately, Sephiroth's attention was drawn toward the concealed and struggling Hermione and _Ron_ before Harry could really start to have a panic attack.

* * *

Other than almost being spotted by Sephiroth, Hermione and Harry made it to the back of Hagrid's hut without any problems and found a good hiding spot right on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry once again wanted to strangle Hermione when she ran out into Hagrid's back garden and used a brace of dead ferrets to lure Buckbeak back with them into the Forbidden Forest, his dappled tail end just disappearing into the forest when Hagrid and the Ministry team came out of the hut, ready to complete the execution.

While Hermione was attempting to wrangle Buckbeak into staying where she could keep him 'safe,' Harry moved to where he was able to catch glimpses of what was going on at the Whomping Willow. He watched as Sirius pulled Ron into the tunnel and Hermione followed behind with himself and Sephiroth following with Crookshanks. a minute and then Professor Lupin hurried through followed even later by Professor Snape.

As Snape's dark head disappeared into the dark crevice, Harry found himself a good place to rest and wait because nothing would be happening until everyone reemerged from the Shrieking Shack tunnel.

Forty-five minutes later, Harry was just beginning to doze when the eerie creaks of the Whomping Willow died out, the abrupt silence drawing his attention and letting him know that this was the time when things were about to go down.

"Okay Harry this is what we are going to do. We need to...BUCKBEAK NO!" Hermione began before she abruptly had to cut off and chase after Buckbeak as Lupin's howl after transforming into a werewolf had startled the creature into bolting further into the woods and away from the predator.

Harry was not _too_ concerned about her, the majority of the creatures in the forest would have sensed the awakening of a Dark creature and sought to be elsewhere. Plus Buckbeak was half predator, once his prey instincts were satisfied that they were far enough away from the threat, he would stop and allow Hermione to catch back up.

Besides, he had a destination that he needed to reach. Harry was unsure where exactly in the Forest the lake was, but as he watched his past self, Lupin and Black, and then Sephiroth disappear into the gloom off to his right, he guessed that following the vague shapes of the swarming dementors would give him a good idea of where to go.

* * *

Cautiously Harry wandered through the forest, close enough to keep sight of the vague outlines of dark, moving shapes but still far enough away to only feel twinges of the dementor's power affecting him. Twenty minutes of ankle breaking wandering later and Harry was finally able to see the lake where he had last seen Sephiroth.

While Hermione had not been very forthcoming on what exactly could happen if their past self saw their future self, she had stressed the dangers of it enough that Harry found it prudent to hide himself in the bushes on the back edge of the lake. He clearly remembered passing out when the light of a patronus joined the strange green light that surrounded Sephiroth, so he should have time to follow Sephiroth before he could get too lost in the twisting branches and gnarled underbrush.

Patiently, he watched as Sirius stumbled into the clearing, attracting more and more Dementors as the first recognized his appearance. With gritted teeth, he watched as Sephiroth helped the stumbling Harry over to the collapsed form. With frost on his lips and the ringing pleas from his dying mother ringing in his ears, he lifted his wand and intoned the spell that had never worked before. With conviction in his heart and fire in his eyes, he watched as silver mist burst from his wand and condensed into the writhing shape that he had glimpsed previously.

As the green light rose to join his patronus, Harry knew that he should begin heading around the lake in an effort to give himself the best chance of catching Sephiroth before he could completely disappear, but he could not help taking a moment to admire the corporeal form of his patronus.

Approaching fifteen feet in length, Harry was not surprised that he had previously been unable to conjure a happy enough memory to create such a behemoth creature. The body of the great serpent twisted in turns in spirals and loops, making it appear larger than it actually was. A foot from its flat shovel-like head sprouted two wings, adding a further five feet to either side.

A flash of silver different from the gleam of a patronus drew Harry out of his stupor of observation and reminded him of why he was actually out here in the first place. Leaving the patronus to complete its job of driving off the swarming dementors, Harry hustled to follow the rapidly diminishing form of his friend.

Harry cursed tree roots and grasping branches in the same breath that he blessed the reflective quality of silver hair bathed in moonlight. Ten minutes of running and he had yet to catch up with Sephiroth, but he had also managed not to lose sight of the other. Finally, Sephiroth's fleeing form collapsed against a large twisted oak, and Harry felt his breath catch in his throat as a dark feathered _wing _wrapped itself around the shivering form.

Slowly and cautiously, as though approaching a wild animal, Harry approached to within a few feet of the cowering form. Once in arms reach, Harry lowered himself to sit cross-legged on the forest floor and waited. Harry hated when people assumed they had a right to know his every thought and secret, so he would not push Sephiroth to reveal his, but he also would not allow the older boy to believe (or convince himself) that Harry would no longer be his friend simply because he was different.

As the seconds grew and no words were spoken, he could see the tension gathering in Sephiroth's shoulders, revealed through the slight quivering of the dark feathers. Still Harry held his tongue, determined to let Sephiroth tell as much or as little as he so chose. Instead, he took the time to study the dark appendage.

Harry had had his suspicions about Sephiroth, and his family, since the train ride to Hogwarts on September first, those suspicions had only grown after the first disastrous Quidditch match when he had awoken in the infirmary with dark feathers clutched in his hand. He was actually quite relieved to discover that he had not gone insane and there was actually a, mostly, sensible explanation for things.

His perusal of Sephiroth's wing was cut short as the other boy exploded upward in a burst of energy, massive wing mantling behind him in a sign of aggression.

"Why did you follow me! Why are you still here!" yelled Sephiroth, a sneer on his lips and fire in his eyes.

But Harry had seen that fire enough times before, that was a fire born of fear, the fire used to protect oneself from others. So he did not take offense at Sephiroth's mistrust, he did not lose his temper or rise to his feet to be equal with the angered silverette. No, instead Harry remained seated on the ground and met Sephiroth's eyes as he spoke in a calming voice.

"I'm here because I'm your friend."

A scoff, "You would still claim to be friends with a monster."

"I don't see any monsters here, Seph."

Sephiroth threw his wing out to its full six foot span and gestured too it wildly as he continued to shout, "Me, I'm the monster, can't you see that!"

Harry allowed a bit of his anger, at others, at the world, at himself, to fill his voice, "Do you feel like going back to Hogwarts and slaughtering everyone in it? Do you feel like burning Hogsmeade and everyone in it to the ground?"

"No.." began Sephiroth before Harry harshly interrupted him.

"Then you are not a monster. You…"

"NO! I may not want to do those things, but I have! I've killed hundreds, slaughtered innocents, burned villages to the ground and attempted to destroy entire planets! I am a monster." Sephiroth's voice that had started off strong and determined, trailed off to a pitiful whisper as he completed his tirade.

Harry felt his brow furrow in concern as he attempted to understand what the other was talking about. Sephiroth was only thirteen, surely if he had done all of those things there would have been rumors of a new Dark Lord.

* * *

Confused verdant green met defeated swirling green and said the only thing that he could in such a case, "Explain."

So he did. With halting words, pacing, shouting, ranting, and whispers, Sephiroth told the story of life in a lab, being 'sold' as a SOLDIER, fighting in a war while still a teen, being in command-yet not truly in charge of his own life, friends and loss, insanity, _Mother_, fire, death, revival, a rival, death again, _reunion_, and then the offer of rebirth. An offer given by the very Planet he had sought to destroy, to rule. A chance to live the life he was never given, with parents and siblings.

He spoke of how six accepted the offer of the Planet to be reborn in a different dimension, on a different planet. How his memories were wiped to the most basic and for four years he lived the life of one free from guilt. Of how on his eleventh birthday, he awoke to dreams of fire and death and the whispers of a voice calling for the death of those labeled 'unworthy.'

How Zack, his former Lieutenant, and Aerith, one of the many victims of his madness, had held him, _forgiven _him, and continued to raise and love him as their child. With Sephiroth's awakening the triplets too began to remember echoes of their former selves and the tale of Hojo was concocted to cover any slips.

Harry listened to Sephiroth's tale and watched the emotions showcased on his face and in his eyes. He watched as the story progressed and the wing withdrew, to be replaced with hunched shoulders and averted eyes.

As the story finished, Harry was not certain if he believed, or even understood, everything that Sephiroth was saying, but he did know that nothing that had been said or done this night had affected how he felt about Sephiroth as a friend, and he intended to prove it to the other.

He only became more determined as he watched Sephiroth shrink even further in on himself, withdrawing from both Harry and the world. Harry had a very Slytherin smirk on his face as he followed a very Gryffindor impulse and tackled Sephiroth to the ground in a fierce hug. The silverette stiffened at the contact and attempted to get away, but Harry was tenacious and would not allow the other to escape his embrace.

Finally, Sephiroth seemed to accept that Harry truly was only hugging him and not attempting anything else and ceased his struggles, instead burying his face in the junction where Harry's neck met his shoulders. Harry allowed him to stay there until he felt the last remains of tension bleed from the others muscles and he could tell that he was finally relaxing, then and only then did he push Sephiroth away from him until he could look him in the eye.

"Nothing that you have said has convinced me that you're a monster, Seph. You might have made mistakes once, but you have yet to say that you have made them now, that you feel the urge to do those things _now_. This is your second chance and if the thing/being/whatever that sent you back did not view the wing as making you a monster….then neither do I." Harry could only smile at the shock he could see in Sephiroth's eyes as he finished his little speech.

He was caught off guard however when Sephiroth suddenly burst into peals of laughter. When his mirth had finally settled down, Sephiroth flashed Harry one of his true smiles, "Zack said almost the exact same thing when I freaked out the first time the wing appeared."

"Humph," snorted Harry, attempting to turn up his nose in the same way as Malfoy at his most snobbish, "I could always tell the man was smart."

One shared look was all it took for both boys to dissolve into semi-hysterical laughter.

It took several minutes, and purposely not looking at each other, for the boys to get themselves back under control. Sephiroth was the first to speak as Harry cleaned tears of laughter off of his glasses.

"I don't know about you, but I would rather not spend any more time in a forest where a werewolf and dementors are running free."

"Yes, yes, let's go." answered Harry with a last chuckle and a wave of his hand.

It took twenty minutes, and Sephiroth's sense of direction, to make it out of the Forbidden Forest and back onto the castle grounds. By the time they made it to the castle steps, Harry would have sworn that the trek up the flat ground of the grounds took five times longer than all of the running they had done through the forest.

They were just set to open the castle doors when the screech of an eagle pierced the night air, and both boys looked up to see a dark shape winging away from the school.

* * *

**A.N.-I apologize for leaving everyone on a bit of a cliff hanger, but I had a semi-emergency surgery and the recovery took much longer than I was anticipating. But! while the surgery was essentially a bust, they were able to finally definitively diagnose me with Sinus Tachycardia and start me on medicine for it, which is one reason my surgery recovery took so much longer than expected. No worries though, I am back and will, hopefully, not take so long to get the next chapter out for you all.**

**Reviews:**

**buterflypuss: Hello, Duckling. Logan, Rogue, Gambit, and Nightcrawler are my favorite X-Men.**

**Enjali: Yeah, I've seen some pretty crappy movie werewolves, both real and animated. Hope this chapter answered you're question(s) well enough, sorry it took so long and left you hanging.**

**Juxshoa: Yeah it is kinda the obvious option isn't it. Hope I didn't make it too trite. OHH kittens..I should add some...or just have Crookshanks adopt Seph.**

**Scififan33: I can never tell if I'm typing your name right, I feel like I see another "i" in there but I'm also almost as blind as a bat so idk. Seph question answered this chapter, Snape question will/should be answered next chapter.**

**Pupstarstar: Totally and completely ignored him in order to complete her own agenda.**

**RavenBensonRoth: Glad you're enjoying it, sorry for the long delay. :)**

**Avid Reader: Glad you're enjoying it, the rat will get what he deserves, but I needed to set something else up so I'm thinking he won't get it how you want him too. **


	21. Chapter 21

**The Magic of Family**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Going Home?**

_They were just set to open the castle doors when the screech of an eagle pierced the night air, and both boys looked up to see a dark shape winging away from the school._

Harry and Sephiroth stood in silence watching as the shadow slowly disappeared over the horizon. He had to roll his eyes though when the unmistakable outline of a hippogriph with a human passenger on its back passed before the full moon. What was the point of 'rescuing/escaping' if you were not going to be subtle about it, with the full moon being up and everything being illuminated by the pearly light, Sirius and Buckbeak would have been much better off diving quickly towards the Forbidden Forest and then sticking close to the tree tops until they were sure not to be spotted.

'Freedom is an intoxicating drug though' mused Harry as he helped Sephiroth shoulder open the heavy Entrance Hall doors that were miraculously still unlocked. He recalled his behavior on his first trip to Diagon Alley with Hagrid, and his actions over this summer, when he had finally been free of the Dursley's overbearing presence for a time-and before he had realized the expectations that the wizarding world would heap on his shoulders-and had to suppress a cringe. No other child would have willing wandered off with not one but _two_ complete strangers without even a promise of safety, or at least removal from the situation he had grown up in.

Thinking back to his first year of Hogwarts, Harry had to admit that he had been exceedingly naive in his thoughts and actions, even with all that had happened-Quirrelmort, the Basilisk, and the shade of Tom Riddle/Voldemort being only a few of the things to come to mind-Harry had been wary of adults or people who showed too much interest in his life, but he had still been willing to trust anyone and everyone who showed him the least amount of attention. Several late night/early morning talks with Zack, Aerith, and Sephiroth had started to open Harry's eyes and mind to the different aspects that came with every situation.

"Mr. Potter," drawled an exceedingly familiar voice, and slightly unwelcome voice, "once again you are found to be completely disregarding school rules with one of your….followers."

Harry and Sephiroth turned from where they had just begun to climb the Grand Staircase, to see Professor Snape exiting the dungeons, black robes swirling around his form as he stalked to where the two students were standing frozen, each with a single foot raised in the air, ready to begin the long climb to their dormitories (well, actually the Ravenclaw dorms because heart-to-heart conversation or not, Harry was not leaving Sephiroth alone long enough to begin to doubt what Harry had told him-and he was not spending the night in the infirmary after having already made a successful escape).

"Professor…" began Harry as confusion wrinkled his brow, Snape was speaking as though he did not know why he and Sephiroth had been outside, as if he had not been with them.

"I have neither the time nor the inclination to listen to your paltry excuses. Fortunately for you, the Headmaster has need of me to help him deal with a situation; otherwise, we would be going to him with this blatant example of your inability to follow the school rules, just like your father. And while it may not be in my abilities to expel you," an ugly sneer curled his lips in disgust at the word 'expel,' "do not think that you will escape this without punishment, a week's worth of detentions, for both you and Mr. Crescent-Fair."

Those long, potion-stained fingers dug into their shoulders as both boys attempted to protest, or at least talk to the enraged Professor. However, the man refused to allow them to talk as he marched them at a near running pace up to Gryffindor Tower, the glare he gave them as the portrait swung shut convincing them that any attempt to leave the dorm would be known and harshly punished.

"What just…" puzzled Harry as he shared a bewildered look with Sephiroth. The silverette simply shrugged while giving a noise of confusion, before turning and trudging up the steps towards the third year Gryffindor's room. Harry shot one last puzzled look at the closed portrait before deciding that he had dealt with enough strange and insane things for one night, he had a _glorious_ week of detentions to look forward to with Snape in which he could figure out why the man was acting as though he had not just helped them face an escaped 'criminal,' a traitorous animagus, and a rampaging werewolf.

* * *

Harry sighed as he settled into an empty compartment on the Hogwarts express. The last week of term had been hectic, and Harry was glad to finally have a chance to truly relax. He had to take several deep breaths in an attempt to keep his anger at bay as he thought back on what had happened during the last week of school.

Harry and Sephiroth had managed to get about four hours of sleep when the curtains around the bed had been unceremoniously ripped open and the loud voices of Hermione and Ron had begun questioning where he had been and why he had not returned to the Infirmary or helped Hermione with getting Buckbeak up to the tower where Sirius was being held waiting for the Minister of Magic to decide his fate. The sleeping the boys had sat up quickly, both too used to nasty surprises being a result of abrupt returns to consciousness, green sparkles of their summoning magic glimmering around Harry's right and Sephiroth's left hands.

Realizing that the cause of his return to consciousness was not, in fact, an attacking monster, but instead two pests, Sephiroth had quickly growled and proceeded to burrow himself back down into the bedding. Upon seeing that the windows were only just beginning to glow with the early morning light of dawn, and that the curtains on all of the other beds were still drawn, Harry had attempted to follow Sephiroth back down into the warmth of unconsciousness.

Unfortunately, Harry's plans for unconsciousness were thwarted when Ron and Hermione grabbed his arms and began to haul him down to the Common Room. He sat through Hermione's lecture about the dangers of time travel-such as not returning to where you were supposed to be-and the importance of helping others-especially when Professor Dumbledore was expecting them to get the job done. He blinked blearily as she broke off from talking about how amazing it was that Dumbledore trusted them enough to allow them to pull off what he himself could not, to begin a rant about how uncomfortable flying was and how 'really, that was his part of the plan, not her own.'

He had to hold himself back from snapping at that, none of the situation yesterday, either before or after the time turner had been his plan, he would have been more than happy to never have gone under the Whomping Willow, been chased by a werewolf, faced down hundreds of dementors-not once but twice, and attempt to complete a task that not only should have been handled by adults, but that Albus Dumbledore, with all his clout in the ministry and influence over the opinions of the masses, should have easily been able to handle not only on his own, but legally.

Harry bit his tongue until it bled when Ron began to whine about not being included in the plan to use the time turner and how it was 'selfish of Harry to leave Hermione with all of the work and to not tell them what he had been doing.

Finally, both of them paused in their complaining long enough for Harry to voice his annoyance at their borrowing of not only the Marauder's Map, but also his father's invisibility cloak.

He saw red when Hermione once again gave him an exasperated look and said that it did not matter if they asked him since he would have said yes if they did.

Ron's dismissal that there was no point in asking since anything that Harry had was theirs as well since they were friends had him marching back up to the dorm and using the levitation charm to shove a heavy wardrobe in front of the door and a sticking charm on the curtains to keep them from disturbing him and Sephiroth again.

A couple more hours of sleep and a relaxing breakfast at the Ravenclaw table were enough to get his anger down to 'prank until you repent' levels instead of the 'curse with lasting bodily harm' levels that it had been at previously. It was actually over breakfast that Sephiroth devised the perfect revenge against Hermione.

During one of his perusals through the Ravenclaw libraries, Sephiroth had come across a spell that, when cast, would return an object to a marked area upon the activation of a key phrase. The spell was mainly used by libraries and mother's who were tired of losing a child's favorite plushie since the object did not have to be in the caster's sight to be returned.

Together they studied the spell, practicing with one of Sephiroth's textbooks and the desk in his room, until both boys could accurately cast the spell and have the book disappear from the Ravenclaw common room and reappear on the desk in the room when they thought the spell and said the activation word of their choice.

They were just in time for them to hurry to Gryffindor Common Room and mark Hermione's main study table as the return point before running to arrive in the Great Hall in time for dinner. At dinner they had been able to tag one of Hermione's books, a quill, and several pieces of parchment before they had to rush down to the dungeon for the first of their week long detentions with Snape.

The next day they were wandering through the Gryffindor Common Room marking anything of Hermione's that they could find with the 'return home' spell and discussing how they could get access to more of her stuff when the Twins cornered them.

"What do we have here, brother dear?" questioned Fred.

"Looks like competition, brother mine." answered George.

"**Now why would they be pranking our 'favorite' bookworm?"**

Harry traded a look with Sephiroth before explaining to the Twins what Ron and Hermione had said about his things. The explanation was a little difficult because he was trying to avoid any mentions of Sirius Black, but the end the Twins had that manic gleam in their eyes that usually preceded some of their more vicious pranks.

"**Worry not, Little Brother,"** said the Twins as they trapped Harry in a headlock and ruffled his messy hair, **"We'll handle reminding Ronnikins the importance of leaving people's belongings alone."**

Harry grumbled as he attempted to straighten his hair out as the Twins skipped up the stairs to their dorm room and Sephiroth began to chuckle semi-maliciously and mutter about 'Zack and Reno 2.0.'

It took a day for the Twins to implement their pranks, and Harry had to applaud their ingenuity. Every one of Ron's uniforms and his everyday clothes had been transfigured to be Slytherin green, his chess set had been stuck to the Common Room table with a sticking charm that not even Hermione could undo, his trunk had disappeared, and every time he would put something other than toast or kippers on his plate, it would vanish and appear on someone else's plate.

By the end of the week, Ron was visibly fuming and had managed to obtain two weeks of detention from McGonagall for the beginning of their fourth year because he snapped at a pair of first years and caused them to cry after they were playing with 'his' chess set.

Between them, Harry and Sephiroth had managed to mark at least two-thirds of the books that Hermione used/read on a daily basis and at least ninety-five percent of her quills and parchment. The greatest one though was when Sephiroth managed to charm Hermione's summer homework assignments and the beginnings of her research. Their plan was to wait until they arrived at Platform 9 ¾ to activate the charm so that a) they would be well out of screeching range and b) so that Hermione would not have access to her things over the summer break.

* * *

Harry had to cover a smirk as he watched the passing scenery and thought about Hermione's reaction to the disappearance of her books and homework. It should definitely give her a good taste of how he had felt.

The smirk dropped off his face as he thought about the week of detentions that he and Sephiroth had served with Snape. The man had required them to scrub all of the cauldrons from the end of the year exams, scrub down the tables and chairs, hand wash the floors, and re-organize and clean the supply cupboard. Not once during that week had Snape mentioned the events of the Shrieking Shack and when Harry or Sephiroth had attempted to bring up what had happened to Peter Pettigrew, Snape would snap at them that he did not know why they were interested in a dead man.

After being threatened with two more weeks of detention upon their return to school, the boys gave up on attempting to get answers to their questions. Even now they were unsure if the Professor truly had no recollection of that night or if he was just trying to throw them off of searching for Pettigrew on their own by not giving them any information.

Harry jolted as the train jerked to a stop at Platform 9 ¾. Harry smiled and waved at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley as they were flocked by their miniature horde of red haired children and waved goodbye to Hermione, able to give her a genuine smile as he thought about what was about to happen to all of her precious books. He was busy looking around for the Dursleys, sure that Dumbledore had found out where he spent and the Christmas holidays and managed to convince the Dursleys to take him back, and so was unprepared to be tackle hugged by Kadaj, resulting in both of them tumbling down to the Platform floor.

Laughter preceded the removal of all encompassing silver hair from his sight, which cleared to show Zack once again holding a dangling Kadaj under his arm.

"What were you looking for?" asked Aerith as she helped Harry up and brushed the dirt off his back.

"I was looking for the Dursleys, surely Dumbledore has convinced them to keep me by now."

Harry watched as Aerith and Zack exchanged smiles tainted with a slightly evil look over his head, before Aerith hooked her arm through his and began to tow him gently through the entry column and out into the muggle station.

"There's no need to look for them silly, you're coming home after all."

"Home," whispered Harry as he clambered into the car and listened to the rapid flow of questions, answers, and laughter that quickly filled the car. His verdant green eyes met Sephiroth's poisonous green ones and a brilliant smile stretched across his face, "yeah, I guess I am."

* * *

**A.N.- Sorry this has taken so long to get out, but we have restarted schooling and these past three weeks have felt like three years….I needed this chapter for my own sanity…..This is the last chapter of The Magic of Family *sniffle* actually I think this is the perfect length for this fic and I think it would be pushing things to go further. The first chapter of The Family of Magic has been written since Chapter four was published, so hopefully I will feel confident in releasing that soon. Also the Excerpts and random ideas chapters should be posted either tomorrow or Monday and will be titled The Magic is in the Differences. **

**Reviews: **

**buterflypuss: Hello, liebling(sorry if I've completely butchered this or if it's not even really a word, I'm not sure where I got it from but for some reason in my mind I have Eric Lensherr saying it and it meaning sweetheart or darling or something like that.)**

**Juxshoa: Yeah the 'resurrection in another dimension' is mainly so I can use materia without having to explain why it works. I think in the entirety of what I have planned out it will be mentioned one more time and that's it. I just don't like trying to intertwine magic systems but I still want summons.**

**tocasia: I wanted him to remember the majority of his previous life but I also wanted him to have a chance to be a kid so I had him forget then remember.**

**Jebest4781: I hope this is interesting enough, I didn't want to build things up too much since I was ending the story and about to start the next, but I also wanted to leave a few things to be answered.**

**Scififan33: I hope you liked my retribution against the two, since they are only 13 I wanted it to be adequate without going too over the top. Also I felt Hermione was more than capable of pulling off the rescue on her own, I mean if you were going to trust 13 year olds to do it to begin with I'm sure she could handle it. I am trying to make him less black and white while still letting him keep some of that innocence he held onto even until he turned 15. **

**The surgery wasn't too bad (but this one was my second surgery ever and the risk of dying on the table was much, much less this time than it was on my last surgery) I was more just frustrated that it was a waste of time, and yeah, the episodes suck but the meds are helping.**

**Enjali: Sephiroth always needs a hug, think it would have stopped a lot of problems if he had just gotten a hug.**

**AshIsHere365: So glad you are enjoying it! Also I've binged fics till 4 or 5 in the morning too so it's really nice that you felt mine was worth that. I think for the fic itself they will probably just stay best friends, but I also want to write the slash(nothing extreme, more like puppy love/first boyfriend kind of stuff) and post it separate for my romance people. Either way they will always stay close.**

**Guest: Probably won't in the main story. **

**F-U-M: Glad you are liking it and thanks for the well wishes, they're much appreciated. **


	22. Snippet

**The Family of Magic**

**Chapter One: Summer of Sun Before the Storm**

Harry stretched and smiled at the pops that sounded from his joints and back. Humming softly to himself, Harry placed his new glasses, an almost invisible metal square around the lenses that connected to faux wooden arms in a light brown color, and looked around the room he was sharing with Sephiroth.

The Fairs had picked up both him and Sephiroth from King's Cross at the end of Harry's, rather strange and enlightening, Third Year. Zack and Aerith-and the three terrors-had appeared just as excited to see Harry as they had Sephiroth and their assurance that Harry would be coming home with them had made this year's return from Hogwarts one of the best that he had ever had, but he still could not shake the small ball of anxiety in the pit of his stomach that said he would never really be free of the Dursley's control, that they would always be hovering on the edges of his life, a looming shadow ready to snatch him back up and dump him again into a life of pain, hunger, and belittlement.

Aerith, or Zack-the man could be scarily observant when it came to people's emotional reactions, must have sensed his unease, no matter how well he had it hidden, and together they had pulled him aside later that evening. Sitting in the kitchen, Aerith's homemade hot chocolate warming his palms as he clutched it to his chest, Harry listened as Zack and Aerith took turns explaining.

During the school year, Zack and Aerith had apparently convinced the Dursleys to quietly sign guardianship of Harry over to them. They had also visited the goblins and somehow managed to get his magical guardianship as well. Harry was not too clear on _how_ they had managed all of that, both of his new guardians had offered to explain in greater detail, but the borderline fury radiating from both caused Harry to believe he would not enjoy either what they had found, or what they had _done_. Harry had cautiously asked if they could discuss the circumstances surrounding his change in guardianship at the end of the summer instead of the beginning, at the moment he was content just to know that _no one_, the great Albus Dumbledore, included could send him back to the Dursleys. Both Zack and Aerith had been happy to comply, promising that the three of them would sit down before the end of the summer and discuss what had been done/found, what was going on, and what would happen in the future.

After that, the first two weeks of summer were spent bringing Harry to the eye doctor, the general practitioner used by the rest of the family, and a nutritionist at the insistence of the general practitioner. Each visit had been a new experience for Harry and he was very glad Aerith had been the one to take him, her fury at the treatment that the Dursleys had given him was much quieter and less overwhelming than Zack's or Sephiroth's would have been. Plus Aerith was very straight forward in her handling of the doctors and Harry-never showing any pity for what Harry had been through or keeping the doctors' findings from him.

**Author's Note: For the people following this from "The Magic of Family," sorry it took so long, I have a knitting commission that the finish date snuck up on me on and restarting schools has been an interesting (and exhausting) endeavor. I had planned on making this first chapter a little longer, but I felt it served as a nice bridge between the end of Book Three and the events of Book Four.**

**Reviews:**

**buterflypuss: Oh My Goodness, why did I never think to check German, of course that's what it is. I swear, sometimes I thought I was going crazy with that, thanks for knowing what it was. Lol**

**Jebest4781: See what fun is a FF crossover if you aren't going to include material. *evil cackle***

** .With. : Glad you enjoyed the ending, I always getting nervous doing those cause I want them to be satisfying and not rushed. Thanks for the well wishes with school, everyone's nice reviews have been really helpful at keeping going.**

**SoraSky RoxasWind: Here you go! This is only a snippet to let you know the real story has been posted.**

**MerelyOneHellOfAButler: First, Nice Black Butler reference. Second, glad you think my writing of Hermione hasn't been too heavy handed or blunt, I don't want to bash her character cause I loved her growing up, but sometimes when I really think about her early reactions/actions it irks me. Hope you followed the story so that you can see it is continuing.**

**Setokayba2n: Ohhhhh, wish I'd had access to your deviousness before I'd written that last chapter.**

**Scififan33: Glad you liked the ending. Hope your surgery went as well as if not better than mine, hopefully this is in time to catch the tail-end of your recovery since I missed when you were probably stuck in Purgatory (aka. Post-op)**

**Guest: ummmmmm…hello little Death Eater…..Voldemort hasn't even entered this story yet**

**Enjali: The revenge on Hermione took much longer than Ron's, but she is so much of a neat/ocd freak that it kinda hit me out of the blue and felt perfect. **


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